Two races being recounted in the Minnesota House have members of the Democratic Farm Labor Party, the state’s Democratic Party, on track to win the races.
Incumbent DFL Reps. Dan Wolgamott and Brad Tabke will continue to serve Minnesota House districts 14B and 54A, respectively. Both races were incredibly close.
Unofficial results showed Wolgamott had a 191-vote lead over Republican challenger Sue Ek, but a later hand recount showed Wolgamott had less of an advantage.
On election night, a webpage on the Minnesota secretary of state’s website showed 100% of the vote was in for District 14B, with Ek just four votes ahead. However, when the page refreshed, the results found Wolgamott was ahead, according to CBS News.
County election officials said the discrepancy was due to a reporting problem, which prevented all vote totals from being correctly transmitted to the secretary of state’s office.
In House District 54A, preliminary results from a recount found Tabke had a 15-vote lead over GOP challenger Aaron Paul. On Monday, Tabke was declared the winner of the race.
The election results can still be challenged in court within seven days of the certification. Each race was called Monday.
These races were set to determine control of the Minnesota House, which will now be tied between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats and Republicans will each hold 67 seats.
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State Reps. Melissa Hortman, DFL leader and Minnesota House speaker, and Lisa Demuth, state GOP leader, announced that each legislative committee would have a co-chair from each party so committees would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
Hortman and Demuth are also figuring out how to pick a House speaker, as the Minnesota Constitution says only one person can hold the position at a time.