The Minnesota Supreme Court is siding with Democrats in a battle with Republicans for control of the statehouse

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday sided with Democrats in a power struggle with the Republicans in the state House of Representatives, but left it up to lawmakers to figure out a way to work together.

The justices unanimously agreed with House Democratic leaders, who argued that a quorum in the House was 68 members under the state constitution, not the 67 that Republicans claimed. House GOP has a majority of 67-66 awaiting a special election to fill an empty seat expected around March 11. The House Democrats have stayed away from the Capitol all sessions to try to prevent Republicans from capitalizing on their advantage.

The Supreme Court’s chief justice said on Thursday that the disagreement had left the House “completely dysfunctional.” The court issued a three-page ruling on Friday and said it would follow up with a detailed opinion explaining its legal reasoning later. The justices did not directly declare all the actions taken by House Republicans so far to be legally invalid, as Democrats had wanted, but said they “assume that the parties will now comply with this order.”

House Democrats said the ruling “effectively invalidates every action taken by Republicans since the first day of the session” last week.

“Republicans tried to seize power that voters did not give them,” top House Democrat Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park said in a statement. “Now that it is clear that Republicans must work with Democrats to make the House work, I hope we will soon be able to negotiate an acceptable path forward. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and get back to the negotiating table immediately.”

House Republicans were noncommittal in their first public reaction about whether they are willing to reopen negotiations.

“This decision leads to the fact that House Democrats are disrespecting not only their own constituents, but the entire state of Minnesota by refusing to do their jobs,” top GOP leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring said in a statement. House Republicans will show up to work on Monday — it’s time for the Democratic shutdown to end and for the legislature to get on with its work.”

Hortman and other Democratic leaders had expressed hope before the ruling that a victory for them would at least incentives their GOP counterparts to negotiate a power-sharing deal similar to one they agreed to after the November election, when it appeared the House would be tied 67-67 when the legislature convened for its 2025 session on Jan. 14.

That deal collapsed after a Ramsey County judge ruled that the Democratic winner of a Roseville-area seat did not live in his district and was ineligible. That gave Republicans a temporary one-man majority. The eventual special election to fill the seat is expected to restore the tie because it is a heavily Democratic district. After the meeting called last week, Republicans pushed for a vote to elect Demuth as speaker, introducing legislation and holding hearings.

It was not immediately clear exactly what will happen on Monday afternoon, when Parliament is scheduled to meet again. Under state law, the Secretary of State calls the opening session of the House and serves as Speaker until a quorum is present and a Speaker is elected, which is usually a fairly quick formality.

Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon, who adjourned the first day’s floor session after declaring there was no quorum, said in a statement he will try again, though he did not specify when.

“I look forward to reconvening the House of Representatives — and to working with an organized legislature to advance the interests of all Minnesotans,” Simon said in a statement.

House Democrats have also said they won’t return to the Capitol until Republicans promise not to deny the seat to Democratic Rep. Brad Tabke of Shakopee, who won re-election by just 14 votes in a swing district where the GOP would have a good chance of winning a low-turnout special election. Republicans have refused to give that assurance, even though a Scott County judge declared Tabke the legal winner. Denying Tabke his seat would lock up the GOP majority at least until that seat could be filled.

In the attempt to block a quorum, the House Democrats use tactics lawmakers around the country have tried at least two dozen times before to thwart their opponents. While unusual in Minnesota, it’s not a first for the state. In 1857Republicans wanted to move the capital of the Minnesota Territory from St. Paul to St. Peter, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) away. A Democratic lawmaker took physical possession of the bill and hid in a local hotel until it was too late to act on the measure.

The Minnesota Constitution states that a “majority of each house shall constitute a quorum of business.” But lawyers for both sides pointed during oral arguments Thursday to various passages of the state and federal constitutions, statutes, case law and rules in Congress and other states to show that it is not necessarily a simple question. Republicans argued that the court had no authority under the constitutional separation of powers to review how the Legislature organizes itself or elects its leaders.

Chief Justice Natalie Hudson said during those cases that while courts are rightly hesitant to concern themselves with the business of another branch of government, there are also times when courts are obligated to step in.

“What we have is a co-equal branch of government that is completely dysfunctional, that is not carrying out the will and work of the people of Minnesota,” she said. “Isn’t this a case where, if not the judiciary, who? Who steps in to solve it?”

In contrast to the turmoil in the House, the Minnesota Senate, which is tied 33-33, is operating smoothly under a power-sharing agreement pending a Jan. 28 special election to fill the seat of a senator from a heavily Democratic district who died in December.