Democrat Doron Clark is expected to win a special election for a Minnesota Senate seat, giving the Democrats control of the Senate, multiple news outlets reported.
Clark, who works at Medtronic, defeated Republican Abigail Wolters in the race for Senate District 60, which covers parts of northeastern Minneapolis. This seat became available after former Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (DFL) passed away from cancer last month, causing the Senate to be evenly split with 33 Democrats and 33 Republicans.
In the Minnesota House, however, the balance is still tied at 67-67. This happened after a judge ruled that a Democratic candidate didn’t meet the state’s residency requirements, so he cannot take the seat he had won. Before the ruling, Democrats were expected to have a 68-67 advantage.
The two parties are at an impasse over how to run the House. The Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled that 68 members are needed for the House to conduct any business, which means Republicans can’t run the House on their own without Democrats. As a result, Democrats are boycotting the sessions until both sides agree on how to share power in the House.