Republicans lost their one-seat majority in the Minnesota House Tuesday after the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate won in a special election for a Roseville-area seat.

David Gottfried defeated GOP candidate Paul Wikstrom in a contest for a vacant seat in House District 40B, which includes Roseville and Shoreview. The seat has been vacant since the beginning of the year after a court disqualified the DFL candidate who won the November election for not living in the district.

The Associated Press called the race soon after polls closed at 8 p.m. Unofficial results from the Minnesota Secretary of State showed Gottfried with 70% of the vote to Wikstrom’s 30%, with all precincts reporting. Results still must be certified before they are official.

“This victory is for Roseville, Shoreview, and every constituent who hasn’t been represented for weeks,” Gottfried said in a statement on his victory. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be headed to Saint Paul as soon as possible to get to work for this district and Minnesota.”

Republicans have had a one-seat advantage in the House since the legislative session started in January. That could be over as soon as next Monday after Gottfried is seated.

The return of a tie ends months of partisan gamesmanship that ground major legislative activity to a halt. With the election settled, state leaders can now focus on their main task this year: crafting a two-year state budget.

Vacancy

While the November election delivered a 67-67 tie, Curtis Johnson, the DFLer who won in District 40B, didn’t take the seat after Wikstrom, who lost that election too, successfully challenged his residency in court.

That gave the GOP a one-seat majority of 67, though the threshold to pass bills is 68, meaning they couldn’t pass bills without DFL support.

Under a power-sharing agreement that ended a weeks-long DFL boycott of the legislative session, Republicans are currently in control of the speakership and committees.

House DFLers successfully denied Republicans a quorum from January into early February, until they could get a guarantee that they’d seat Shakopee DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, whose election Republicans also had disputed in court.

With Gottfried’s win, a 67-67 tie returns to the House, and the parties are set to enter a new power-sharing agreement. Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, will remain speaker until the end of 2026, but DFLers and Republicans will once again split control of committees.

Republicans will also keep control of a new committee they created aimed at addressing fraud in state government.

Wikstrom said he’s disappointed he lost the election but happy his campaign helped Republicans gain more power in state government.

“We’ve done something that’s been historic and unprecedented, and I’m very grateful for what has happened,” he said in a phone interview. “People are upbeat and they see the positives that have come out of this.”

The candidates

It was widely expected that the DFL candidate would prevail. The district strongly leans Democratic. In the November election, Johnson won 65% of the vote in the district compared with Republican opponent Wikstrom’s 35%.

Both Gottfried and Wikstrom live in Shoreview.

Gottfried, who works at a law firm helping low income clients access legal services, said his top issues include lowering the cost of prescription drugs, defending paid family and medical leave and boosting funding for education.

Wikstrom, who has a background in engineering, campaigned on fighting fraud and waste in state government and boosting public safety.

Republicans have had a one-seat edge for a little longer than originally expected. In late December, Gov. Tim Walz had called for the special election to happen on Jan. 28, but the state Supreme Court said that was too soon.