Republican Rep. Demuth Elected Speaker of the House After Deal Reached With Democrats

ST. PAUL (KVRR/AP) — Rep. Lisa Demuth, a Republican from Cold Spring, has been elected as Speaker of the House after a power-sharing agreement was reached with Democrats in the Minnesota House.

It ends a stalemate that prevented the chamber from conducting official business for more than three weeks.

Under the deal, Demuth will hold the role of speaker for two years becoming the chamber’s first speaker of color.

A special election to fill an empty seat is scheduled for March 11.

The Democratic candidate is expected to win, restoring the 67-67 tie.

Republicans and Democrats will then co-chair most committees, though the GOP will have a majority on a committee dedicated to rooting out fraud in government programs.

“We know that we need to stop fraud, we have to first identify it, stop it and move forward with policies and we’re really pleased to be able to bring that forward,” said Demuth.

A reporter asked former Democrat speaker Rep. Melissa Hortman, “What did you have to give up?”.

Hortman responded, “The speakership but that was very clear from the moment that we were 67-66 that that had to be the play to get the deal done.”

She will now be referred to as Speaker Emeritus.

As part of the deal, there will be some checks on the speaker’s traditionally broad powers.

Both parties will have to agree on which bills come to the floor for debate and Demuth won’t be able to block legislation all by herself.