The Republican Party of Minnesota announced Friday that it has filed its first round of petitions for House Democrats to Secretary of State Steve Simon.
In a news release, the party said petitions for recall of eight Democrat House members — Reps. Brion Curran, Kristin Bahner, Lucy Rehm, Julie Greene, Matt Norris, Brad Tabke, Dan Wolgamott, Steve Elkins and Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman — have been submitted to Simon’s office for approval.
Signature gathering is underway in 40 other districts, the party said in the release, and recall petitions are anticipated for all 66 Democratic House seats.
After signatures are checked by Simon’s office, petitions would be submitted to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which decides if the grounds for a recall are valid. If the petitions are approved by the court, the Republican Party would have 90 days to gather signatures from 25% of eligible voters in each district.
These signatures would go back to Simon, who would review them for validity and, if they are approved, set a date for a recall election.
The recall push comes after a House power struggle in which Democrats boycotted the House for a month to prevent a quorum of 68 members needed for the chamber to operate.
“If you rob a bank and then return the money, you still robbed the bank,” Chair of the Republican Party Alex Plechash said in a statement Friday. “That’s exactly what the DFL did to taxpayers — collecting over $300,000 in pay while refusing to show up for work. … There must be consequences.”
Jennifer DeJournett, executive director of the Republican Party, said at a Feb. 4 press conference announcing recall efforts that the party suspects the process may take 10 months, from the time election contest lawsuits were filed in November to when a recall election could hypothetically be over.
When the House came to a power-sharing agreement Feb. 6, Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said the recall petitions would fail like they have in the past.
“The Republicans have filed frivolous recall petitions, which we’ve had dismissed before. I remember three to six in 2019, and these will be dismissed as well,” she said.
House Republicans have distanced themselves from the recall efforts. When asked Feb. 6 if the recall effort should be discontinued in light of the successful power-sharing agreement, Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, declined to offer her opinion.
“That’s a great question for the state party,” she said. “I know they are pushing on that recall for nonfeasance, and that would be a great question for them. We’re not involved in that process or the decisions on that.”
