Lisa Demuth

Lisa Demuth
62nd Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Disputed
Assumed office
January 14, 2025
Preceded byMelissa Hortman
Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
In office
January 3, 2023 – January 14, 2025
Preceded byKurt Daudt
Succeeded byMelissa Hortman
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 13A district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2019
Preceded byJeff Howe
Personal details
Born (1967-02-10) February 10, 1967 (age 57)
Paynesville, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseNick
Children4

Lisa Demuth (/ˈdeɪməθ/ DAY-məth;[1] born February 10, 1967)[2] is an American politician serving since 2019 in the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Demuth represents District 13A in central Minnesota, which includes the cities of St. Joseph and Cold Spring and parts of Stearns County. She has served since 2023 as leader of the House Republican caucus and from 2023 to 2025 as the minority leader of the House of Representatives.[2] In 2025, Republicans voted for her to be Speaker of the House. Her speakership is disputed, as Democratic Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who initially presided over the opening session, declared that the House did not have a quorum during her election as speaker amid a Democratic boycott of the opening session.[3][4]

Early life, education, and career

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Demuth was born in Paynesville, Minnesota. She graduated from Bloomington Kennedy High School.[5]

Demuth co-owns and manages commercial property with her husband, Nick. She was elected to the Rocori school board as a write-in candidate in 2007 and reelected twice.[5][6]

Minnesota House of Representatives

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Demuth was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2018. She was recruited to run by the former representative for 13A, Jeff Howe, who was stepping down to run for the Minnesota Senate.[7] During the 2021-22 legislative session, Demuth served as an assistant minority leader in the House.[2] She opposes abortion and supported fetal heartbeat legislation in the Minnesota House.[8]

After the 2022 Minnesota House of Representatives Election saw Republicans fail to flip the House from Democratic control, the Republican caucus elected Demuth minority leader. She has portrayed herself as more collaborative and calmer than her predecessor, Kurt Daudt. According to the American Conservative Union's scorecard, Demuth was ranked as less conservative than the average Republican legislator.[8]

Demuth is the first African American and first biracial person to serve as minority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the House Republican caucus.[2] According to Demuth, she asked fellow legislators to pick her based on her qualifications, not her race.[9]

Demuth was elected speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives in the opening session of the 94th Legislature on January 14, 2025. Her election as speaker was contested by Democrats, who boycotted the opening session in an effort to prevent a quorum from conducting business. The House had a one-seat Republican majority after one Democrat representative-elect was disqualified after being found to have not lived in the district he was elected to represent. Democrats argued that a quorum of 68 of the 134 House seats was required to conduct business, while Republicans argued that 67 out of the 133 total members constituted a quorum. During the opening session, Secretary of State Steve Simon presided over the chamber and ruled that there was not a quorum present. Republican members moved to overturn Simon's ruling and unanimously elected Demuth speaker.[10][4][11]

Electoral history

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2018 Election for Minnesota State Representative District 13A[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lisa Demuth 11,348 61.01%
Democratic (DFL) Jim Read 7,243 38.94%
2020 Election for Minnesota State Representative District 13A[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lisa Demuth 16,056 70.75%
Democratic (DFL) Katy Westlund 6,610 29.13%
2022 Election for Minnesota State Representative District 13A[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lisa Demuth 15,190 74.01%
Democratic (DFL) Andrea Robinson 5,324 25.94%

Personal life

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Demuth and her husband, Nick, reside in Cold Spring, Minnesota. They have four children.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Name Pronunciation Guide for House Members 2023". Minnesota Legislature. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Demuth, Lisa". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  3. ^ "Republicans override Simon's adjournment of House, elect Demuth as speaker". ABC 6 News. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Democrats boycott first day of Minnesota House session but GOP votes to appoint speaker anyway". The Associated Press. January 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Knaak, Mike (October 19, 2018). "House 13A candidates focus on health care, jobs - The News Leaders". The Newsleaders. Von Meyer Publishing. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  6. ^ Hertel, Nora G. (June 6, 2018). "Rocori school board member Lisa Demuth vies for Rep. Jeff Howe's legislative seat". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  7. ^ Session Interview (Video) 2019 House Interview. "Video - Minnesota Legislature". www.lrl.mn.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b "New House Republican leader Lisa Demuth vows 'calm and conversational' style". MinnPost. 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  9. ^ Olson, Rochelle. "Lisa Demuth is first woman, person of color to lead Minnesota House GOP caucus". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  10. ^ "Your questions answered on the messy start to the Minnesota legislative session". Minnesota Reformer. January 14, 2024.
  11. ^ "Constitutional crisis: House Republicans elect speaker after Simon adjourns session". Minnesota Reformer. January 14, 2024.
  12. ^ Minnesota Secretary of State. "2018 Results for State Representative District 13A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  13. ^ Minnesota Secretary of State. "2020 Results for State Representative District 13A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  14. ^ Minnesota Secretary of State. "2022 Results for State Representative District 13A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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Minnesota House of Representatives
Preceded by Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
2023–present 		Incumbent
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