House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown)
Minnesota House Republicans today unanimously chose Representative Kurt Daudt to again be their House Speaker for the upcoming legislative session. Representative Joyce Peppin from Rogers will continue as majority leader. Daudt says Governor Mark Dayton campaigned vigorously for single-party DFL control for his remaining two years in office, but Daudt says “voters instead chose commonsense and compromise.”
House Democrats on Thursday chose Brooklyn Park Representative Melissa Hortman as their new minority leader, replacing long-time House D-F-L leader and former Speaker Paul Thissen. In the Senate, Republicans chose Nisswa Senator Paul Gazelka as majority leader after winning a narrow majority in Tuesday’s election. Democrats’ minority leader for the 2017 session will be Senator Tom Bakk from Cook.