Minnesota’s highest court unanimously sides with the Upper Midwest Law Center and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, holding that Governor Walz unlawfully called a special election before a vacancy arose under state law
In a major victory for election integrity and the rule of law, the Minnesota Supreme Court quashed Governor Walz’s writ of election for House District 40B and cancelled the planned January 28, 2025, special election because Governor Walz issued the writ prematurely, contrary to Minnesota election law.
The Court’s order granted the petition filed by the Minnesota Voters Alliance (MVA) and two petitioners, represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), and jointly filed by the Republican Party of Minnesota, represented by Ryan Wilson and the CrossCastle law firm. This is the Minnesota Supreme Court’s second unanimous decision in UMLC’s favor on an important election-law issue in the last three months.
“We at the Upper Midwest Law Center are grateful that the Minnesota Supreme Court granted our clients’ petition and quashed Governor Walz’s illegal writ of election. UMLC and the Minnesota Voters Alliance brought this case forward because it is always worth it to uphold the rule of law,” said UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey. “Today’s ruling reinforces that no politician is above the law – period.”
In the ruling, the Court held that: We conclude that Minn. Stat. § 204D.19, subd. 4, is not “irrelevant”; it controls the issuance of a writ of special election here. Under Minn. Stat. §204D.19, subd. 4, the writ of special election for House District 40B was issued prematurely and therefore must be quashed.
The Court also noted that the timing of the election is still up in the air because, in the Supreme Court, Secretary of State Simon and House Democrats are challenging whether the House lawfully resolved to accept the results of the Wikstrom v. Johnson election contest on January 14. As UMLC’s Dickey told the Court at the hearing on January 15, if Secretary Simon or the House Democrats win either of those cases, it will result in a further delay in the House District 40B special election.
View the order from the Minnesota Supreme Court.