2025 Year in Review

On the opening day of the 94th Legislature just half the House Chamber is filled with Republican members and the other half of the House Chamber empty as DFL members boycotted the ceremonies. All 67 Republican elected members on their half of the House Chamber were sworn in on the opening day while 66 DFL members were sworn in earlier at the History Center. The boycott was due to the removal of a DFL elected member for a residency violation for not living in the district in which he was running.

Secretary of State Steve Simon, the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, leaves the Speaker’s desk after adjourning the House for a lack of a quorum of 68 votes to organize the House and elect a Speaker.

Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, was appointed to preside over the House after Secretary of State Steve Simon earlier adjourned the proceedings because it would take 68 members present to organize the House and elect a Speaker. Republican members went ahead with their election of a Speaker with 67 votes. Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, was elected Speaker of the House and was sworn in by Rep. Paul Anderson.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, votes to uphold the ruling of the President of the Senate that the motion to expel Sen. Mitchell was out of order. Mltchell resigned from the Senate after she was convicted of felony burglary charges for breaking into her stepmother's home.

The name plate on the Speaker’s desk of Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth was removed after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that it takes 68 members to be present to constitute a quorum and organize the House and elect a Speaker.

DFL President of the Senate Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Mpls, left, swears in Republican Speaker Designate Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, right, the first black and the first Republican woman to be the next Speaker of the House. This is the first time in state history that both the House and Senate will have black leaders of their chambers.

An advocate dressed as a character in the series The Handmaids Tale sits on a bench with her signs during a Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day rally in the rotunda.

Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, facing charges in federal court after being arrested as part of an underage prostitution sting operation in Bloomington has his name removed from his Senate Chamber desk by the Sergeant-At-Arms. Sen. Eichorn delivered a resignation letter to Gov. Tim Walz prior to the Senate convening and voting to expel him.

House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, left center, Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, left, Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids and Sean Rahn, DFL Executive Director, right, arrive for budget talks with Gov. Tim Walz and Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, in the Governor’s Cabinet Room.

Gov. Tim Walz updates members of the Capitol media in the final hours of the legislative session outside the Cabinet Room during budget negotiations. A special session was necessary to deal with the state budget after negotiations broke down and the legislature adjourned by the constitutional deadline.

Tim Leary, center, brought his supersized “Democulars” to a protest against any tax breaks for data centers during the one-day special session.

House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, talks with the press after the House adjourned the special session sine die.

Colin Hortman, son of Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, leaves a candle at the memorial to honor mother and father, Mark, during a candlelight vigil at the Capitol. Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed by a gunman in a political assassination. Rep. Hortman became Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2019 and is the longest serving woman to be elected to that position.

A line of people pass by the caskets of Melissa and Mark Hortman along with the family dog, Gilbert, as they lie in state in the Capitol rotunda.

Sen. Majority Leader Erin Murphy, (DFL-St.Paul) left, and House DFL Caucus Leader Zack Stephenson, (DFL-Coon Rapids) right, listen as Speaker Demuth reacts to President Trump’s comments about Minnesota and its Somali community during the release of the Nov. Budget and Economic Forecast.

Gov. Tim Walz signs two executive orders: one that would create a statewide safety council to address gun violence and make recommendations and another to provide law enforcement training on protection order laws, gun storage safety and collect information on the cost of gun violence in the state.