Special election will decide Melissa Hortman's likely successor
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Brooklyn Park voters will select slain Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman's likely successor in Tuesday's special primary election.
The big picture: The process for filling the seat, which is expected to result in the House returning to a rare 67-67 tie, is a somber step forward for a community and Legislature still grieving the loss of a longtime elected representative, neighbor and friend.
What they're saying: Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston, who has remained neutral in the race, said the candidates have "very big shoes to fill."
- "Speaker Hortman was very deliberate, considerate, empathetic, effective, sharp, smart in her role," he told Axios. "Some people have a few of those things. She had all of them."
State of play: While control of the House is technically on the line, the north metro district, which also includes parts of Champlin and Coon Rapids, is solidly blue: Hortman and the Democratic presidential ticket both won over 60% of the vote in 2024.
- That means the winner of Tuesday's DFL primary is the strong favorite to win the seat in the Sept. 16 special general election.
Who's running: Former Brooklyn Park Council Member Xp Lee (pronounced X.p.), a health equity strategist at the Minnesota Department of Health, won the DFL endorsement.
- The two other DFL candidates are Council Member Christian Eriksen and Erickson Saye, a Hennepin County prosecutor and former aide in Gov. Tim Walz's office.
Real estate agent Ruth Bittner was the only Republican to file, so there's no primary on the GOP side.
Zoom in: Lowering health care costs, curbing gun violence and increasing the amount of local government aid to Brooklyn Park and other first-ring suburbs have emerged as top issues in the DFL primary race, CCX reports.
- Bittner says her priorities are fiscal responsibility, public safety and schools.
- Winston said he hopes the new representative will make securing support for a planned community center renovation and the city's emerging biotech innovation district top priorities.
Zoom out: This is the fourth special election for the state Legislature this year — with more to come.
- For comparison, the number of special elections per year between 2020 and 2024 ranged from zero to two, per the Legislative Reference Library.
What's next: Control of the Senate, where Democrats have a one-seat edge, will be up for grabs in a pair of special elections scheduled for Nov. 4.
What we're watching: One of those — a Woodbury district that's open due to DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell's felony conviction and subsequent resignation — has attracted two current DFL House members as candidates.
- If either wins, another special election would be needed to fill their seat.
Two other DFL state legislators in the metro — Rep. Kaohly Her of St. Paul and Sen. Omar Fateh of Minneapolis — are also running for city-level offices this November, setting the stage for even more potential vacancies.