Shoreview Democrat David Gottfried on tying the Minnesota House, working across the aisle

NINA MOINI: It's our top story this afternoon. Democrat David Gottfried defeated Republican opponent Paul Wickstrom in a Tuesday special election to fill a vacant House seat representing Roseville and Shoreview. The results bring the state house into a tie, with 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats. It also prompts a reset at the capitol under a bipartisan power sharing agreement that was reached earlier this year. We've got David Gottfried on the line with me now. Thanks so much for taking the time this afternoon.

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Absolutely, thank you so much for having me.

NINA MOINI: First of all, how are you feeling today after yesterday's results?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: I feel really great. I'm very excited to get to the substantive work of making policy at the capitol. This is truly where the real work begins.

NINA MOINI: And a lot of people may not know about you if they're not from the Roseville-Shoreview area. Can you tell us just a little bit about yourself and what drew you to politics?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Sure, yeah. I was born and raised in this area. I was born in Roseville and went to Roseville Public Schools. And I have always really felt drawn to this. I mean, I remember being chastised and kicked out of my second grade classroom for too-vehemently arguing about climate change policy. So it's really always been something that has always been in me, I think.

NINA MOINI: Sure. So you won with 70% of the vote. That's really substantial. But there was also record turnout, I'm told, in this special election, because people were really focused on this race with the control of the state house really at stake. What was it like to have that on your shoulders?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Frankly, I was just so impressed by how in-tune with everything the district was. And sure, yes, there was a lot of things on our campaign shoulders. But I really felt the solidarity from the entirety of the district. Everyone really came together and knew the stakes of this election. And I think the results speak for themselves. This was a repudiation of a lot of the chaos that we have seen both from a Republican-controlled house and from the national level as well.

NINA MOINI: There has been a lot of chaos. And the session's almost halfway over. And you're kind of jumping in. What's that going to be like for you? What are you prioritizing?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Learning as much as I possibly can within the first week, if I'm being honest, and then really getting to work with my peers, both on the Democratic side and the Republican side, so that we can deliver legislation to Minnesotans that improve their lives.

NINA MOINI: Are there any bills or particular areas that you're interested in wanting to sponsor?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Yeah, I mean, I think there's great opportunity for bipartisanship when we come to the area of mental health supports. And I think that's something that has historically been a really, really great bipartisan issue. And I really look forward to working with my colleagues on this issue when I get sworn in, hopefully next week.

NINA MOINI: So when you are sworn in next week, how are you preparing to get up to speed once you're there? Is it just a lot of conversations with people? Is it sitting in on committees? I mean, if you've never done this before [LAUGHS] to be a lawmaker, I imagine it's a lot to undertake.

DAVID GOTTFRIED: It is an immense amount of questions that you ask about the procedural things behind the scenes. So I have a master's degree in public policy. I'm a policy analyst by trade. So that aspect of the work I'm not terribly concerned about getting caught up on. But it is all the minutia behind the scenes that the public really doesn't think about, that I really am going to have to kind of drill down and have some critical conversations and questions for my colleagues.

NINA MOINI: So the power sharing agreement which allows for there to be chairs from both parties overseeing committees, is meant to, perhaps, make it easier for folks to work together and actually get things done that Minnesotans care about. It has been a really contentious start to the session. And both sides accuse each other, depending on who's in power, of trying to push through an agenda and not really compromising. What's your overall feelings about the Minnesota State Legislature and getting it on track to be less divisive, less polarized?

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Well, I think as soon as I am sworn in, we have no choice but to work together. I mean, we need to. A majority of votes are needed to pass legislation out of the house. And neither party is going to have a majority. So just procedurally, we are going to have to work together. And I think that reality is a really, really exciting opportunity.

NINA MOINI: Well, Representative Elect Gottfried, thank you very much for your time today.

DAVID GOTTFRIED: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on here.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. That was David Gottfried, the winner of the special election that restored the Minnesota House to a 67-67 tie. Now that the House is restored to a 67-67 tie, what does this all mean for the legislature? Here to break it down for us is our politics reporter, Dana Ferguson. Thanks for taking the time again, Dana.

DANA FERGUSON: You're welcome, Nina.

NINA MOINI: So once Gottfried is sworn in, the legislature will be at full force for the first time this session, halfway through session, almost. Earlier in the session, the DFL and Republican House leadership had reached a bipartisan power sharing agreement, right? Can you describe what that is and how that works?

DANA FERGUSON: Yeah, that's right. We expect that Gottfried will take his oath of office early next week after the election results get canvassed and certified. And that sets up the 67 to 67 split in the House. And as you said, legislative leaders struck a deal last month that accounts for this shift to a tie. Under the deal, Republican Speaker Lisa Demuth will keep the speaker's gavel. That was part of the negotiation they agreed to. And a New Fraud Prevention committee will stay under GOP control, with a slim Republican majority. But all other committees will have co-chairs, one DFLer and one Republican. And they will have even numbers of Republicans and Democrats. And that's really significant, because it means that, for any bill to advance, it will need votes from both parties.

NINA MOINI: So how do you think they're going to prioritize different bills this session? What do you think they're going to be looking into and working on together?

DANA FERGUSON: Yeah, I expect this change will mean more bipartisan bills are going to come to the fore and start to advance. For bills to come out of committees, they'll pretty much have to have bipartisan buy-in. So things that are more contentious could get left to the side. And that's been a good amount of what we've seen moving forward so far this year. So it'll be a change.

NINA MOINI: And can you remind us and our listeners-- so Republicans have had the majority in the house the last few weeks. What have they been doing? What measures have they proposed?

DANA FERGUSON: We've seen several proposals move through committees and reach the floor that have GOP backing, but no DFL votes. Under the old arrangement, that was a big deal because a bill needs 68 votes to pass. And Republicans were one vote short of that. Committee agendas also had been stacked with bills that had Republican support but no support from Democrats. GOP leaders had said they wanted to get Democrats on the record on bills they think that most Minnesotans would support, even if they didn't have the votes to pass them. So they've proposed changes affecting trans athletes, rolling back DFL-led changes on climate or abortion laws, and teeing up some changes that mirror policy at the federal level.

Meanwhile, Democrats throughout all of this have said it's not a great use of the time when the clock is ticking, and they need to pass a budget. The next election is really never all that far off. So those votes will come up in ads, brochures, and talking points over the next year and a half or so.

NINA MOINI: And what do you think Republicans are planning with their last few days in the majority?

DANA FERGUSON: Yeah, they have bills today that would roll back changes to school curriculum made under full DFL control. They're taking another run at preventing transgender women and girls from participating in youth sports and stripping away requirements that some agencies provide environmental impact statements. Tomorrow, they have 17 bills already scheduled for a vote on the floor. They would restore funding to crisis pregnancy centers that got dropped in 2023, and propose to tweak or roll back other changes made in the last couple of years.

NINA MOINI: And Dana, do you think that this power sharing agreement and the tie is actually going to lead to people working together, to lawmakers working together? It has been a really contentious session so far. You mentioned earlier, DFL Leader Melissa Hortman was on Morning Edition this morning and accused Republicans of really wasting time. The Democrats, though, used their majority not too long ago to push through a slate of spending-related bills into one package. So everybody seems to be wanting to push through what they can push through for their side. Do you think it's feasible that it's going to get a little less contentious the rest of the session?

DANA FERGUSON: Maybe not right away, but I do think that having this even power sharing agreement and this tie in the House is going to force both Democrats and Republicans to come to the table in a way that we haven't seen so far this year. And it's possible that, now that they've had some of this drama take place early on in session, that it could defuse the situation for the back half of the legislative session and maybe even make it a little bit easier to get a budget done.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Dana, thank you so much.

DANA FERGUSON: You're welcome.

NINA MOINI: That's MPR Politics Reporter Dana Ferguson.