ST PAUL, Minn. — Democratic senators emerged from a private caucus meeting late Thursday to announce they've elected Sen. Kari Dziedzic of Minneapolis as the new leader of the Minnesota Senate.
Sen. Dziedzic will replace GOP Sen. Jeremy Miller as Senate Majority Leader in January. The DFL regained control of the Minnesota Senate in Tuesday's election, after six years of Republican rule.
It's the slimmest possible margin, 34 seats to 33 seats, but Democrats believe the voters have sent a message about how they expect lawmakers to govern.
"Voters told us they don't want gridlock," Dziedzic told reporters, after emerging from the closed-door meeting at the Carpenter's Union complex near the state capitol.
"So, my goal is to keep unified, move Minnesota forward and improve people's lives."
Heading into the meeting there was much speculation that Sen. Erin Murphy of St. Paul would get the nod. Sen. Murphy, a veteran lawmaker who was the DFL's endorsed candidate for governor in 2018, led the statewide campaign to elect more Democrats to the Senate.
Sen. Dziedzic, whose district includes much of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, has been in the legislature for ten years. She holds a mechanical engineering degree from the U of M and worked as an aide to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone.
She's the daughter of the late Walt Dziedzic, who was a fixture in Minneapolis politics, serving 22 years on the City Council and 16 years with the Minneapolis Police Department.
The caucus chose Sen. Bobby Joe Champion of Minneapolis as Senate President, the person who holds the gavel and presides over Senate sessions, settling disputes over the germaneness of bills and senate rules.
"Even though I have the skills and qualifications, it was not lost on me that the Minnesota Senate has never had a president who was a person of color," Sen. Champion said, saying that it reflects well on the diversity of the DFL contingent in the Senate.
The current DFL Caucus leader, Sen. Melisa Lopez Franzen of Edina, didn't run for re-election. Redistricting placed her address in the same district as fellow Democrat Ron Latz, who's been in the legislature 10 years longer.
Senate Republicans picked their new leader Thursday. Sen. Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks will become the new Senate Minority Leader. Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona, who led the GOP Caucus last year, won re-election but chose not to pursue the top post.
"I think one of our biggest things is ensuring that we're talking to Minnesotans about what their needs are, so we can go to those events and we testify in committee or the floor we can say, 'Here's what Minnesotans are telling us'," Sen. Johnson told reporters.
New faces
We may see a bit of an experience gap at the capitol next session. There will be 47 new House members out of 134 seats. There will be 23 new members in the Senate, out of 67 members.
Many of the newly elected members were running for open seats, due to a wave of legislative retirements at the end of the 2022 Session in May.
A total of 23 senators retired, including 19 who decided to leave politics completely. One left to run for a seat in the House. And three ran for other offices.
In the House, there were 36 empty seats. There were 20 state representatives who retired from politics altogether, plus 11 who left the House to run for Senate, and five who left to run for other offices.
Among that group was House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, who left to run for Hennepin County Attorney. On Thursday, House Democrats elected Rep. Jamie Long of Minneapolis to replace Winkler as majority leader. House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park will continue in that role, and Rep. Athena Hollins of St. Paul will step into the role of Majority Whip.
Added to those voluntary retirements were eight incumbent representatives and one incumbent senator who lost their re-election bids on Tuesday. All in all, it translates to a lot of lawmaking expertise heading for the exits.
"It’s a sobering moment because we’re losing some really talented veterans, who’ve done good work for the state of Minnesota," Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs told KARE 11.
"There’s a fairly negative view about what happens at the capitol, but the reality is they’re very talented, very smart people who’ve dedicated a lot of their lives to try to figure out how to keep Minnesota’s books balanced, schools doing as well as possible, the environment protected and a whole host of state services running well."
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