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How a handful of votes could decide which party has control at the Minnesota State Capitol

Election results show Republicans and Democrats may each have 67 seats in the Minnesota House, but at least two races could head to a recount.

ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota State Capitol is filled with big personalities and lengthy debates, but which party has control next year could be decided by a very small number of voters.

University of Minnesota political professor Larry Jacobs said as of Wednesday evening there is a dead-even tie in the Minnesota House with 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats.

"My breath is still being held. We are in the middle of a very close battle,” Jacobs said. "It's really rare. You have to go into the history books."

According to the Minnesota Legislature's website, Minnesota hasn’t experienced a tie in the house since 1979. Records show the two parties argued over who would fill the role as Speaker of the House, since neither party could claim the position without a majority in the House.

The Secretary of State took over the role temporarily until the two parties worked out a deal. However, records show that deal between the parties eventually fell apart during the final days of the session.

According to the Minnesota Legislature’s records, the last 10 days of the 1979 legislative session included:

 Fists slammed on desks, cries of order that were ignored, protests and dissents being logged in the Journal of the House, a walk out of DFL representatives that left the House without a quorum, and official business left unfinished, necessitating a special session.”

Jacobs said history could repeat itself if the tie in this current election is ultimately upheld.

"The first question will be well, who is going to be the speaker? Who are going to be on the committees? How are the committees going to operate? There will be a lot to sort out,” Jacobs said.

However, there is a decent chance the tie in the Minnesota House could be broken. Two of the races for seats in the Minnesota House are incredibly close. In District 14-B in Saint Cloud, the race was decided by just 28 votes. In District 54-A in Shakopee, the race was decided by a matter of just 13 votes.

Election officials in the respective counties, Scott County and Stearns County, both say that a recount is possible.

Officials say the losing candidates must request a recount, but their campaigns won’t have to pay for the recount because the margin of victory is lower than 0.5%, which is the requirement for a publicly funded recount.

Election officials in Scott County say the recount in the race for 54-A could happen sometime between Nov. 20 and Dec. 2.

Election officials in Stearns County say a recount in the race for 14-B would likely happen sometime during the week of Thanksgiving.

Election officials in both counties are currently working with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office to facilitate their potential recount should the candidates formally request one.

"These are very close races. It's a few dozen votes. If you think of your extended family that might show up for a reunion, it’s that kind of difference,” Professor Jacobs says.

There is more at stake than just control over the Minnesota House. Jacobs said recounts in these two races could potentially determine whether one party has control over the entire Minnesota State Capitol.

"The Democrats have been able to hold the one seat that was up in the Senate, so they are going to have their one-seat majority in the Senate. The governor of course, Tim Walz, is back, so the Democrats have two of the three."

The Democrats would have had a clean sweep of all three bodies if it weren't for just a handful of votes in these two close races that have narrow victories by Republicans.

"Overall, it's good news for the Republicans, because if it's a tie, or it's a majority, they are going to be able to block the Democrats,” Jacobs said/

So, if everything stands, could history repeat itself here in Minnesota? Jacobs said Minnesotans could be facing another chaotic session at the State Capitol, like they did back in 1979.

"I would hope there would be some effort on some issues to find agreement, but the reality is that the game plan for Republicans is to stop the Democrats. They don't want to see spending. They don't want to see taxes being increased. I don't think it's malice. I think it's just very different political agendas,” Jacobs said.

Besides the races in 54-A and 14-B, nearly a half dozen other Minnesota house races were determined by a few hundred votes.

Candidates in those other close races could also request a recount, but election officials say since the margin of victory in those other races is higher than the margin of 0.5% the candidates would have to pay for the recount themselves.

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