Minnesota House Returns to 67–67 Tie After Democrats Win Two Special Elections

Shelley Buck and Meg Luger-Nikolai held two safe Twin Cities–area seats for Democrats, restoring an even House split under an existing power-sharing deal.

The Minnesota Capitol building in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 8, 2025. After a record $18 billion budget surplus in 2022, the state now faces a projected $3 billion deficit for the 2028–29 budget period. Jenn Ackerman for The Epoch Times

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) candidates Shelley Buck and Meg Luger-Nikolai won special elections on Jan. 27 for two Twin Cities–area state House seats, restoring a 67–67 partisan split in the chamber after a brief Republican majority.

Both seats were previously held by Democrats and sit in some of the state’s safest DFL territory. In House District 47A, east of St. Paul, Buck received 1,913 votes, or about 98 percent, according to unofficial results from the Minnesota secretary of state. Write-in candidates received 48 votes. Buck was the only listed candidate on the ballot with no organized major-party challenger.