DFL candidate Xp Lee has won the special election for the Minnesota House seat left vacant after the assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, restoring the balance of power in the chamber to a 67-67 tie between Democrats and Republicans.
Unofficial results Tuesday night showed Lee had a decisive lead, with 61% of the vote to Republican Ruth Bittner’s 39% with all District 34B precincts reporting results. Polls closed at 8 p.m. and final returns were in a short while later.
“I am honored to have been elected to represent my neighbors in Brooklyn Park, Champlin, and Coon Rapids,” Lee said in a statement. “I have never lost sight of the situation that brought us to this moment, and I will work hard every day to carry forward Speaker Melissa Hortman’s legacy.”
Lee is a former member of the Brooklyn Park City Council. It was widely expected that the district would remain in DFL hands. Bittner is a real estate agent who had not served in elected office before.
Hortman was first elected to the House in 2004 and was in her 11th term in the Legislature. She was elected speaker of the House in 2019, when the DFL took a majority in the House and continued to lead her party in the House after it lost the majority in 2025.
Hortman handily won reelection in District 34B and past districts that covered a similar footprint. In 2024, she won reelection with 63% of the vote.
The House seat has been vacant for three months since Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed by a gunman at their home in Brooklyn Park on June 14. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot at their home in Champlin but survived.
Vance Boelter, 57, faces federal and state murder, attempted murder and other charges in the attacks.
Hortman’s death left the House split 67-66 between Republicans and DFLers. With Lee’s win, a power-sharing agreement the parties reached earlier this year after the 2024 election delivered a tied House will remain in place.
The Legislature has not been in session, so the balance of seats hasn’t had any immediate effect on the state, and the House can’t pass any bills without Democratic-Farmer-Labor support because the threshold to do so is 68 votes.
The state Senate is in a similar situation. DFLers have 33 seats to Republicans’ 32 in that chamber, but 34 votes are needed to pass legislation.
Before two vacancies this summer due to the unexpected death of Sen. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo, and the felony conviction of another member, Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, the DFL had a 34-33 advantage. Special elections to fill the two seats are scheduled for Nov. 4.
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