Minnesota
Balance of power uncertain as Minnesota Legislature readies for 2025 session following death of lawmaker, court challenge
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The balance of power is uncertain in the Minnesota Legislature following the death of a state senator and a court challenge for a House seat, which will prompt special elections two weeks after session begins.
Lawmakers will return for the 2025 session on Jan. 14, but the special election for two legislative seats will happen on Jan. 28.
Tuesday is the deadline for candidates to file in Senate District 60, vacated by former DFL Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic who died Friday after a battle with cancer, and House District 40B covering Roseville and Shoreview.
In the latter, a judge barred the winner, DFL candidate Curtis Johnson, from taking the oath of office following a court challenge in which the Republican candidate argued Johnson did not live in the district before the election, which is required by law in order to serve. The judge agreed and Johnson said he wouldn’t appeal the decision and stepped aside.
This means the balance of power is in flux pending the outcome of those two races. The Senate vacancy means that the chamber is tied 33 to 33, and in the House, the chamber was already headed for a tie of 67 to 67 before the outcome of the election contest in House District 40B. House Republicans now have a one-seat majority — at least temporarily.
There’s a dispute among both parties about what that power really means, pending the results of the special election. GOP Leader Lisa Demuth said the move gives Republicans an organizational majority to elect a speaker and make other decisions about how the chamber operates, while Democrats maintain Republicans are short a key vote to take any action until someone fills that seat.
There is another court challenge that could further complicate the balance of power: A judge will soon decide the outcome of an election contest for House District 54A in Shakopee, where DFL incumbent Rep. Brad Tabke beat GOP challenger Aaron Paul by 14 votes.
Republicans are seeking a new election because of missing ballots at the center of the case. If a judge agrees, there could be yet another special election in the new year.
This story will be updated.
Minnesota began its Acrisure Invitational journey with some great energy against Stanford, but an injury to starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr. was too much to overcome in a hard-fought 72-68 loss. Here’s what we learned.
Minnesota has been without North Dakota transfer BJ Omot and Maryland transfer Chance Stephens in every regular-season game, while starting big man Robert Vaihola missed his second straight game on Thursday with a knee injury. Things got even more scarce after two early fouls sent Willis to the bench, and he came out of the locker room with a boot on his right ankle.
The Gophers were already not a very deep team, so taking away four rotational players is a massive issue for Niko Medved and a rebuilding program.
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With Vaihola out for the second straight game due to a knee injury, Minnesota slid Grove into the starting lineup for the first time in his college career. Nehemiah Turner did not see the floor after starting last week’s loss to San Francisco, and it was an eight-man rotation.
The Gophers coughed up 14 turnovers on Thursday night, compared to only eight for Stanford. The biggest difference was that Minnesota’s turnovers resulted in 27 Cardinal points. It’s hard to point to any other stat as the largest factor in Thursday’s result.
Reynolds was the first player off the bench for Minnesota, and he provided some serious energy to begin Thursday night’s game. He had a career-high 16 points in last week’s loss to San Francisco, and it looked like he would remain at that level against Stanford, but he struggled in the second half with six points, six rebounds, four assists and six turnovers on the night.
Asuma generated all the headlines when he opted to stay with the Gophers through the coaching change, but Grove also returned after redshirting last season. The 6-foot-9 big man from Alexandria, Minnesota, got the biggest opportunity of his college career against Stanford. He finished with five points and one rebound in 19 minutes. Medved opted to roll with Durkin in the closing lineup.
The Gophers will face Santa Clara on Friday night in the consolation game of the Acrisure Invitational.
Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-2) vs. Stanford Cardinal (4-1)
Palm Desert, California; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cardinal -1.5; over/under is 142.5
BOTTOM LINE: Stanford takes on Minnesota at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.
The Cardinal have a 4-1 record in non-conference games. Stanford scores 83.8 points while outscoring opponents by 12.2 points per game.
The Golden Gophers have a 4-2 record against non-conference oppponents. Minnesota ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 11.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Jaylen Crocker-Johnson averaging 3.3.
Stanford averages 7.8 made 3-pointers per game, 1.0 more made shot than the 6.8 per game Minnesota gives up. Minnesota averages 74.2 points per game, 2.6 more than the 71.6 Stanford gives up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ebuka Okorie is shooting 52.1% and averaging 23.8 points for the Cardinal. Benny Gealer is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers.
Cade Tyson is scoring 21.8 points per game and averaging 4.3 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Crocker-Johnson is averaging 11.7 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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