Gov. Tim Walz issued a writ of special election to fill a vacancy in Senate District 6 following the resignation of Sen. Justin Eichorn on March 20. The Senate was expected to expel Eichorn after he was arrested and charged as part of a minor prostitution sting. The special primary election will be held on April 15, followed by the special general election on April 29.

The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board issued the report of expenditures by lobbyist principals. The report includes compensation paid to lobbyists and costs incurred to support lobbying. Prior to 2024, lobbyist principals reported their expenditures in two categories: the amount spent to influence the PUC; and all other lobbying. The expenditures now include the amount spent in four categories: the amount spent to influence actions by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC); the amount spent to influence legislative action; the amount spent to influence administrative action; and the amount spent to influence the actions of metropolitan governmental units. A searchable listing of the reported expenditures by lobbyist principals is available on the board’s website at https://cfb.mn.gov/.

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill that would require reporting of campaign contributions from outside districts. House File 1447 would require legislative and statewide candidates to disclose the name, address, employer or occupation if self-employed, and registration number if registered with the board for each individual or association that has made one or more contributions to the reporting entity, including the purchase of tickets for a fundraising effort, if the individual or association resides or is located outside the area represented by the candidate. The proposed legislation is meant to provide greater transparency when outside groups or entities fund campaigns.

The U.S. District Court permanently enjoined a statute passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 that prevented entities who had a single foreign investor with a 1% interest or an aggregate of foreign investors holding 5% interest from making any independent expenditures or contributions. The court determined in its final ruling in Minnesota Chamber of Commerce v. Choi the statute violated the First Amendment right to free speech. Specifically, the court acknowledged the state has a compelling interest to prevent foreign influence in its elections but concluded the statute was not narrowly tailored to accomplish that interest.

Gov. Tim Walz issued a writ of special election to fill the vacant seat in House District 40B following the resignation of Representative-elect Curtis Johnson after a district judge ruled the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) candidate did not meet the residency requirement to serve the district. The special election will be held on Tuesday, March 11. If necessary, a special primary election will be held on Tuesday, February 25. The Minnesota Supreme Court canceled a previously scheduled date ruling Gov. Walz scheduled the election too soon. The decision left Republicans with a one-seat advantage in the chamber over the DFL, who were boycotting the session as a result. Wednesday evening DFL and Republican caucus leadership reached an agreement to organize the body. With a quorum for the first time, the House officially began the 2025-26 session Thursday, February 6, after a more than three-week DFL boycott and elected Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth as speaker.

The Minnesota Supreme Court canceled a special election for House District 40B set for January 28. The court agreed with Republicans who claimed Gov. Walz scheduled the election too soon, ruling state law allows the governor to call a special election only after the legislative session begins and a vacancy is clear. Democrat Curtis Johnson won a Roseville-area seat in November but was disqualified by a judge over residency questions and declined to appeal.

The decision left Republicans with a one-seat advantage in the chamber over Democrats, who have been boycotting the session as a result. There is a separate legal dispute before the court over the legitimacy of the session convening without Democrats present. Walz has not yet set a new date for the election but stated it will now likely happen in March.

House Democrats boycotted the opening day of the 2025 legislative session in an effort to stop Republicans from claiming a majority. Republican leaders are seizing on a temporary majority following a court decision finding newly elected Democrat Curtis Johnson did not live in the district. The GOP has a 67-66 majority until a special election can take place in two weeks.

Gov. Tim Walz issued the second writ of special election within a week to fill the vacancy in Senate District 60 created by the death of Senator Kari Dziedzic.

The special election will be held on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, along with the special election for House District 40B.

Due to the number of candidates running, a special primary election will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.

After the party decided to back one candidate for the vacancy in House District 40B, all other candidates withdrew so there will be no special primary for House District 40B.

Gov. Tim Walz issued a writ of special election to fill the vacant seat in House District 40B following the resignation of Representative-elect Curtis Johnson.

The special election will be held on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

If necessary, a special primary election will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.

Johnson won the seat by more than 30% at the Nov. 5 election, but a district judge ruled last Friday the DFL candidate did not meet the residency requirement to serve the district.

Campaign Finance

Oregon: “The City’s Public Campaign Financing Program Allowed Candidates with Little Support to Snag Taxpayer Dollars” by Sophie Peel for Willamette Week

Ethics

California: “Assessor Reports $1M Behested Payment, Biggest Charitable Donation Made at a Local Elected Official’s Request” by Jeff McDonald (San Diego Union-Tribune) for MSN

National: “Trump Transition Team Ethics Pledge Appears to Exclude President-Elect” by Betsy Klein, Steve Contorno, and Arlette Saenz (CNN) for MSN

Florida: “Tickets to Master’s Tournament Trigger Feud in Hillsborough County Politics” by Jack Evans and Justin Garcia (Tampa Bay Times) for MSN

Indiana: “Nonprofit Braun Transition Group Follows Former Governors’ Model” by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz (Indiana Capital Chronicle) for Yahoo News

Legislative Issues

National: “Supreme Court to Examine Power of Congress to Delegate Authority” by Justin Jouvenal (Washington Post) for MSN

Lobbying

National: “As His Power Grows, D.C. Wonders: How do you lobby a man like Elon Musk?” by Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui, and Pranshu Verma (Washington Post) for MSN

New York: “N.Y. Ethics Commission Faces New Constitutional Challenge” by Brendan Lyons for Albany Times Union

On November 21, Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer Jean-François Blanchet submitted to the province’s National Assembly a report of recommendations containing 30 proposals for improvements to the Election Act.

The stated goal of the report, entitled “For a New Vision of the Election Law,” is to strengthen the province’s election law’s fundamental principles: transparency, fairness, and integrity.

Notably, the report recommends fixed by-elections dates.

Among the other recommendations of Elections Quebec are requiring political parties to account for their pre-election expenses, extending this reporting requirement to any organization or person not acting on behalf of a candidate or a party, and banning government advertising and announcements as an election is approached.

The report contends the current guidelines limiting government communications in the run-up to an election need clarification to ensure more fairness between political parties from one election to the next.

Additionally, the report proposes requiring digital platforms to keep a register of the paid election and political ads they broadcast, similar to requirements in effect during federal elections.

Q: Since Minnesota updated their lobbying law and the changes went into effect at the start of 2024, how will the changes practically affect how lobbyists register and file reports?

A: Minnesota passed legislation affecting lobbying registration and reporting that went into effect on January 1, 2024. To correspond with the changes the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) has updated their lobbyist registration, termination statement, and reporting forms.

Lobbyists should be aware the registration threshold has increased from $250 to more than $3,000 for individuals who spend personal funds to influence government action. Calculating the threshold does not include an individual’s own traveling expenses and membership dues. While the increased threshold allows individuals to track their activities until they reach the higher amount the law expanded the scope of local government lobbying which could lead to more activities being included in determining your registration requirements.

The scope of local government lobbying was expanded by amending the definition of lobbyist to replace all references to metropolitan governmental unit with political subdivision. A political subdivision includes the metropolitan council, a metropolitan agency, including the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, Metropolitan Airports Commission, and Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, and a municipality, including a county, town, city, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state authorized by law to enter into contracts. Communication with local officials of a political subdivision will need to be tracked and included in calculating your threshold. The new form released by CFB reflects these changes. Lobbyists will also be required to list the general lobbying categories of interest on registrations.

On the reporting and termination forms, lobbyists will no longer be required to report disbursements. Instead, individuals must affirm whether legislative, administrative, or local governmental action occurred during the reporting period. For each type of governmental action, the lobbyist must include at least one general lobbying category and up to four specific subjects of interest lobbied during the reporting period. For administrative actions, individuals must also include the agency lobbied and revisor number if applicable. Lobbyists must continue to report the amount and nature of each gift, item, or benefit $5 or more, given or paid to any public official, an employee of the Legislature, or a local official, by the lobbyist, an employer, or employee of the lobbyist, and each original source of money in excess of $500 in any year used for the purpose of lobbying.

While the CFB has not released an updated form for the annual report, the new lobbying law requires the total amount spent on each lobbying type during a calendar year to be rounded to the nearest $9,000 instead of the current $20,000. We expect the CFB to release a new form closer to the annual reporting due date.

The information from this response can easily be found on our website in the Lobbying Compliance section of the United States Compliance Laws publication.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

A special election for Senate District 45 will take place on the day of the general election, November 5.

Sen. Kelly Morrison, Assistant Majority Leader, announced Thursday she is resigning her seat to launch her bid to represent Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District.

The vacancy triggers a special election putting Democrats’ one-seat Senate majority in play this November.

Lawmakers passed a bill modifying the restrictions and penalties for using deep fakes to influence elections before adjourning May 20.

Effective August 1, House File 4772 changes the standard from reasonably knowing to acting with reckless disregard about whether the item being disseminated is a deep fake.

The bill also changes the applicable timeframe for violations to within 90 days before a political party nominating convention or after the start of absentee voting prior to a presidential primary or state or local primary or general election.

Penalties for candidates using deep fakes include forfeiting their nomination or office and disqualification from being appointed to that office or any other office.