DFL members eye opportunities with new trifecta, as Republicans urge for cooperation

With Gov. Tim Walz winning his bid for reelection, the house staying in DFL control and a new majority of DFL members in the Senate, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party controls all three major houses of state government; a trifecta. With that trifecta, the DFL could, essentially, pass whatever legislation they saw fit. That’s an opportunity that members of the party aren’t blind to, including those representing this area.

Political power dynamic

“The era of gridlock in Minnesota is over; the governor said as much in his inauguration speech, and that’s largely been true,” said Jeff Brand, a DFL member and representative of MN House District 18A, including St. Peter. “We’re getting stuff done. We’ve never moved this quickly to get legislation off to the desk of the governor.”

While most of the legislation that’s been passed in the first 12 days of the session have only been routine bills needed to begin the session, some legislation that’s scheduled to be decided on soon include a bill to encode reproductive health care, including but not limited to, abortion, rights into the state constitution, a bill to declare Juneteenth, June 19, as a state holiday, and a bill to make Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the second Monday in October, a state holiday and remove Christopher Columbus Day as a state holiday.

While members of the DFL are happy to be able to move these pieces of legislation along, members of the state’s Republican party worry that their views, and the views of the people they were elected to represent, are going to be all-too-easily overlooked in the legislative session for 2023-24.

“Whenever you’re in the minority, it limits your ability to get things done, and every majority has a different slant on what they want to accomplish,” John Petersburg said. Petersburg is the representative for House District 19B, which includes Waseca and Owatonna.

While Petersburg acknowledges that the power and control is in the DFL’s hands, and that the Republican party will likely have to compromise on certain issues to be able to get the legislation they’d like passed, he warns of the dangers of going too far in that compromise.

“There are a lot of different opinions, but we have to be careful we don’t go too far, too fast without understanding what guardrails we need or what we have the ability to accomplish,” Petersburg said.

While Petersburg is only apprehensive of moving too fast, his partner in the Senate, John Jasinski, believes it’s already happened. Jasinski, also a Republican, represents Senate District 19, which includes Waseca, Owatonna, Faribault, Morristown, Kenyon and more.

“They’re already changing rules to benefit the majority,” Jasinski said, mentioning certain procedures, such as the remote voting option, which was first introduced to respond to the COVID pandemic. “That rule expired on Dec. 21 2022. COVID is gone and they extended that now forever. With a 34-33 majority, they manipulate rules to their advantage to make sure their agenda is passed. Pandemic voting is forever.”

Brand, for his part, said he sees the benefit to cooperating with the other side of the political aisle, but he’s nervous of going too far to the right, and with a majority, recognizes that he doesn’t have to.

“We’re better when we work together, but again, on bigger issues, there’s a large gap [between the two parties],” Brand said, mentioning how he was upset at how the Senate spent “an hour and a half arguing about procedure” and referring to the state’s current Republican representation as the “government of yesteryear.”

Representing minority voices

With it seeming that major compromise between the two parties is unlikely, or at least, still a long way off, senators and representatives of Republican districts worry that the voices of the people they represent won’t be heard or appreciated until the party has a chance to flip one of the houses in 2024.

“It’s important [that these minority voices are heard], and I’d like to think that we can all come together and make decisions that are best for all of Minnesota,” Republican Brian Pfarr, whose District 22B includes most of Le Sueur County, said. “I’m representing my district and the values they hold dear. … Unfortunately, in this day and age, there’s more polarization, and I’m not certain it’s healthy.”

Brand said that he believes that a lot of Minnesotans and the people in the Legislature “share a lot of common values”, but that the DFL needs to watch out for “extreme talking points and dangerous rhetoric.”

Bill Lieske, senator for District 58, which includes Northfield and Lonsdale, said he believes that, at least from a senate standpoint, everyone in elected positions are in the same boat.

“My voice represents about 85,000 people in Minnesota or about 1/67 of the state, the same as every other senator. All of our election certificates are equal. This means my voice and the people I represent matter just as much as every other area of the state. … All voices must be heard, not just those who voted for Democrats,” Lieske said.

With many of the Republican members of both the state House and Senate feeling as though their constituents’ voices aren’t being heard, members have begun calling for more state bipartisanship to get important issues taken care of. But, while everyone seems to agree to that theory in principle, it seems like nobody is willing to back down from the positions or principles; a danger to a Republican party that the DFL currently doesn’t need.

State bipartisanship

“There’s a huge discrepancy between both parties at the Capitol,” Republican Sen. Rich Draheim, whose District 22 includes Le Sueur and Blue Earth counties, said. “There’s a wide range in both bodies of political thinking, and some of the bills [being introduced] are very radical. Time will tell if we can make them more moderate as they go through the process.”

Brand said he recognizes the importance of bipartisanship collaboration in Minnesota’s state government, but again warns of going too far and conceding too much to a party he views as dangerous.

“The Republican party has imploded. A lot of that has come to the state level especially,” Brand said. “Bipartisanship can only get you so far when one party is dysfunctional. As you can see, we differ greatly on things like elections and the natural discussion around abortion and functionality of government.”

Jasinski said that, while he sees a need for bipartisanship, he also sees it as critical that the Republican party doesn’t back down from its positions.

“One thing I’ve tried to do is work across the aisle and develop relationships [with DFL members]. I’m going to continue to do that, but not give up on my conservative values, or the values of our district,” Jasinski said, warning of not bowing to legislation that he believes is part of a “very far left agenda.”

Lieske, who sits in a unique position with his district being one of the only ones in the state that has a political split between the representatives in their House and Senate, seemed to echo Jasinski’s views.

“Bipartisanship will be important, no matter the district, as we must work to represent everyone. But it is especially important in our area, because voters here chose representation from both parties,” Lieske said. “I am willing to talk to anyone and work with anyone, regardless of party, to accomplish what I believe is best for Minnesotans. But the ideals I ran on are those that I was elected for, and those ideals … will guide my approach to serving.”

Still, the trifecta rests in the hands of the DFL, and Brand recognizes that and said he’s determined to make sure the country doesn’t slip too far to the extreme right.

“I don’t think there’s been, in the scope of Minnesota political history, a time where we’ve been this far apart,” Brand said. “I mean, we’re only two years removed from an anti-government rally (Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.) where police officers were killed and property was damaged, all to dispute the fact that the election was legit and legal. I don’t think we heal from that.”

As the political gap in the state only widens, and the Legislature is likely to propose a number of bills that will have a vast Republican disapproval attached to them, some members are gearing up for a war of parties that will see a focus on who has the power. However, there remains some members who are hopeful that a bipartisan spirit will still somehow prevail.

“The best way we have to advance our thoughts is through the bills we present and amendments to those bills coming up. However, the majority party doesn’t have to listen to any of them,” Petersburg said.

“Part of special authority given to the majority is that they have control over bills that are brought up. … We have to be able to listen to one another, to hear each other out before we make decisions,” Petersburg said. “We’re all a part of the same state and the same republic. It’s become easier to bypass listening to each other and deal with who has the most votes, but that doesn’t lead to the best policy and best decisions. We have to continue to listen and do what’s best.”