Rep. Gene Pelowski, a Democrat who has served in the Minnesota House since 1986, thinks it would be a “good thing” for Republicans to take back control of one chamber of the legislature.
“… I think it would be a good thing for Minnesota if one of the two houses flipped. I think we do need divided government to simmer things down and I would hope to review and remove and amend some of the things that were passed last session,” Pelowski said during a panel discussion last month at the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s Energy Issues Summit.
A YouTube video of the discussion was made private after a clip of Pelowski’s remarks circulated online. Both the House and Senate are currently controlled by Democrats.
NEW: Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Gene Pelowski said during a panel discussion last month that it would be "a good thing for Minnesota" if Republicans take back the state House or Senate.
"I think we do need divided government." pic.twitter.com/Uj16WXzGW8
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) September 18, 2024
The veteran legislator, who isn’t seeking reelection, went on to advocate for an “unsession” where legislators would focus only on repealing and fixing laws.
“I really would like to go down that path,” said Pelowski. “The first year should be the budget year and everything else. The second year should be the unsession year and we should take a look at what we’ve done and repeal it. By the way, I love repealing things. I would spend much more time repealing things than I would passing things because there’s a lot of junk on the books.”
Democrat Sarah Kruger and Republican Aaron Repinski are competing to replace Pelowski in District 26A in a race that Republicans view as a potential pickup opportunity. Kruger and Repinski will face off in the southeast Minnesota district that was +5 for Tim Walz in 2022, but was represented by the pro-life Pelowski, long regarded as one of the more moderate Democrats in the legislature.
Both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature are up for grabs this November as all 134 seats in the House will appear on the ballot. Additionally, a special election in Senate District 45 will determine control of the state Senate.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
