GOP begins effort to recall all 66 DFL legislators who are boycotting legislative session

"Our state is in crisis, and Minnesotans deserve elected officials who show up and do their jobs," said GOP Chairman Alex Plechash.

recall
Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash speaks at a press conference Tuesday at the State Capitol Building. (Alpha News)

The Republican Party of Minnesota announced it is kicking off an effort to recall all 66 DFL members of the Minnesota House of Representatives for not showing up to work.

“Our state is in crisis, and Minnesotans deserve elected officials who show up and do their jobs,” said GOP Chairman Alex Plechash. “If Democrats refuse to fulfill their constitutional duties, we will do what is in our power to find leaders who will.”

For the last several weeks, every member of the House DFL Caucus has boycotted the first weeks of the 2025 legislative session. In short, House Democrats are refusing to show up at the Minnesota State Capitol unless the GOP agrees to a power-sharing agreement that would “honor the will of the voters” in the closely-divided chamber.

Since the start of the legislative session on Jan. 14, the Democrats’ absence has prevented the House from conducting regular legislative business because Republicans, according to the Minnesota Supreme Court, lack the minimum number of members necessary to conduct legislative business alone.

As such, the Republican Party of Minnesota has begun collecting signatures to recall all 66 members of the House DFL Caucus.

How does the recall process work in Minnesota?

According to the Minnesota Constitution, recall elections are permitted if an elected official has engaged in “serious malfeasance or nonfeasance” while in office.

A petitioner seeking to recall an elected official must list those grounds on a petition and collect the signatures of 25 eligible voters in the district served by the official. That petition must then be submitted to the secretary of state.

If the secretary of state determines that the petition is valid, then it is forwarded to the Minnesota Supreme Court which will determine whether “the facts alleged in the petition are true and are sufficient grounds for issuing a recall petition.”

Should the Supreme Court find sufficient grounds for a recall, the petitioner can then begin collecting signatures from eligible voters in the elected officials’ districts. In order for the recall election to be held, the petitioner must get signatures from a number of eligible voters equal to 25% of all those who voted for the office in the previous election.

State GOP begins recall process

According to Jennifer DeJournett, the executive director of the state party, Republicans have already begun collecting the initial sets of 25 signatures necessary to begin the recall process in districts occupied by House Democrats.

DeJournett said they expect the first batch of petitions will be filed with the secretary of state’s office on Monday. Discussing the grounds for seeking the recall election, DeJournett said Democrats engaged in malfeasance by participating in an unlawful swearing-in ceremony and engaged in nonfeasance by failing to be present for their duties at the Minnesota House.

Should the initial recall petitions be approved by the secretary of state and the Supreme Court, the executive director said the state GOP believes it will easily collect the 5,000-6,000 voter signatures necessary to satisfy the 25% requirement.

The state party has set up a website for Minnesotans who want to learn more about the recall efforts.

Alpha News reached out to the state DFL Party and the House DFL Caucus for comment. However, neither entity immediately responded to a media inquiry.

 

Luke Sprinkel

Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.