Minnesota Supreme Court rules Walz issued House District 40B special election prematurely

The Minnesota Supreme Court canceled the planned January 28, 2025, special election for House District 40B on Friday, ruling that the writ of special election was issued prematurely. House District 40B represents parts of Roseville and Shoreview in Ramsey County. The successful challenge temporarily gives House Republicans a 67-66 majority over the DFL.

The decision results from a lawsuit from the Minnesota Voters Alliance (MVA) and two petitioners represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), and jointly filed by the Republican Party of Minnesota, represented by Ryan Wilson and the CrossCastle law firm.

The petitioners claim Governor Walz acted prematurely and unlawfully issued a writ of special election for Minnesota House District 40B on December 27, 2024, setting a special election for January 28, 2025. The special election was set to replace Curtis Johnson.

Johnson was elected for the first time to House District 40B in the November election. An election contest was brought, alleging Johnson did not meet the residency requirement to serve in the district. District Court Judge Leonardo Castro ruled on December 20 that Johnson did not live in the district for six months before the election, meaning he did not meet the residency requirement. Judge Castro said the seat should be filled through a special election.

A week later on December 27, Johnson sent a letter to Governor Walz, resigning from the position.

“I have made the difficult decision not to accept my seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives and to resign from the Office of State Representative effective immediately and irrevocably,” said Johnson.

Walz then issued a Writ of Special Election the same day, setting a special election for January 28, 2025, and requiring affidavits of candidacy and nominating petitions to be filed on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, by 5 pm that day.

The Minnesota Supreme Court order says the petitioners maintain the issuance of the writ of special election is governed by Minn. Stat. § 204D.19, subd. 4 (2024), which states:

“If a vacancy results from a successful election contest, the governor shall issue 22 days after the first day of the legislative session a writ calling for a special election unless the house in which the contest may be tried has passed a resolution which states that it will or will not review the court’s determination of the contest. If the resolution states that the house will not review the court’s determination, the writ shall be issued within five days of the passage of the resolution.”

This means the writ of special election would have to be issued after the start of the legislative session, which started on January 14, 2025.

The counterargument was that the December 27, 2025 letter from Johnson to Walz makes the aforementioned statute “irrelevant” and other statutes permit the writ to issue. The Minnesota Supreme Court sided with the petitioners in their conclusion.

“We conclude that Minn. Stat. § 204D.19, subd. 4, is not “irrelevant”; it controls the issuance of a writ of special election here. Under Minn. Stat. §204D.19, subd. 4, the writ of special election for House District 40B was issued prematurely and therefore must be quashed.”

Minnesota Supreme Court, January 17, 2025

The petition was granted, and the January 28, 2025, special election will be canceled. Any absentee ballots already cast must not be counted for any future special election for House District 40B.

“We at the Upper Midwest Law Center are grateful that the Minnesota Supreme Court granted our clients’ petition and quashed Governor Walz’s illegal writ of election. UMLC and the Minnesota Voters Alliance brought this case forward because it is always worth it to uphold the rule of law,” said UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey. “Today’s ruling reinforces that no politician is above the law – period.”

According to the court, the timing of the election is still up in the air because Secretary of State Simon and House Democrats are challenging whether the House lawfully resolved to accept the results of the Wikstrom v. Johnson election contest on January 14. If Secretary Simon or the House Democrats win either of those cases, the House District 40B special election would be further delayed, according to UMLC’s Dickey.

In the meantime, House GOP members have a one-seat advantage in the legislative session.