While a possible change in political control of the Minnesota
House of Representatives had been speculated about for the past
several months, nobody thought it likely that the leadership of the
Minnesota Senate would shift from the Democrats to the Republicans.
And, yet, that is the result of yesterday's elections in
Minnesota. Republican legislators across Minnesota (together with
their newly-elected Republican colleagues) are still coming to
grips with their new-found leadership responsibilities. They will
gather in St. Paul in the next few days to celebrate their success
and pick their caucus leadership, including the new Speaker of the
House and Senate Majority Leader.
We are assuming that Rep. Kurt Zellers from Maple Grove will be
selected by his colleagues to be the next Speaker; the interesting
races in that body will be for majority leader and minority leader,
respectively. In the Senate, Senator Dave Senjem from Rochester
deserves credit for his caucuses success at the polls, but that
will not likely assure his election as Senate Majority
Leader. He may face a challenge from one or more members
of his party, including Sen. Amy Koch from Buffalo; she led the
Senate Republican election effort this year. Geoff Michel (Edina)
or Chris Gerlach (Apple Valley) could also emerge as
challengers.
Along with controlling the legislature comes the daunting challenge
of selecting committee chairs and planning for a 2011 legislative
session that will be dominated by budget pressures. While the
Republicans are celebrating their success at the polls, the
responsibility to simultaneously field a new leadership team and
develop and pass a budget with no help from Democrats is no small
task. Moreover, assuming Mark Dayton is ultimately successful in
the recount, Republicans have to find a way to enact a budget that
he will sign. Neither the House nor Senate have Republican
majorities that can override a veto.
On a more mundane, logistical level, the election results mean that
every state legislator will have an office change, literally.
Senate Republicans will move their offices from the State Office
Building to the State Capitol, displacing Senate Democrats who, for
the most part, have never served in the minority (at least since
partisan labels have been used by legislators). Senate Democrats
will take the offices vacated by their Republican counterparts.
Likewise, House Republicans will occupy the top floors of the State
Office Building, displacing their Democrat counterparts who will be
relocated to the lower floors of the State Office Building.
We will provide a complete overview of the leadership of the
Minnesota House and Senate in the coming weeks as those decisions
are made.
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