A delayed U.S. Census and gridlock in Minnesota government could lead to political chaos in 2022: a giant at-large statewide election for all of the state’s U.S. House seats.
Such a wild election happened once before — nearly a century ago — in 1932, after the Farmer-Labor Party governor vetoed a redistricting plan passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature.
After litigation stretching all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, Minnesota’s secretary of state administered an unusual at-large election, where each political party nominated up to nine candidates, who all competed against each other in a giant 32-candidate race. The top nine vote-getters won seats in Congress.
The unusual circumstances leading to the 1932 at-large election could replicate themselves in 2022 — though the legality of such an election now is debatable after changes to federal law over the past century:
When the Census Bureau finalizes its population estimates from the 2020 census, Minnesota is expected to lose one of its eight seats in Congress.
The Republican-controlled state Senate, DFL-controlled state House and DFL governor aren’t expected to be able to agree on new maps. That could lead judges to draw new maps, as happened in 2012, 2002 and 1992.
The U.S. Census isn’t expected to deliver data necessary for redistricting to states until the end of September, six months later than usual. The compressed timeframe could make it difficult to enact new maps by the state’s February deadline to adopt district lines.
As Brian Bakst reports, the legal wrangling has begun over new Minnesota congressional and legislative district boundaries stemming from the 2020 census with the filing of a new lawsuit.
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Confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate today:
8:30a Deb Haaland to be Secretary of the Interior. She would be the first Native American to run the Department of the Interior
9a Merrick Garland hearing to be Attorney General
10a Xavier Becerra hearing to be Secretary of Health and Human Service
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