ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House Republican Caucus selected three legislators from Up North for its leadership team Tuesday, Nov. 19.
District 4B Rep. Jim Joy of Hawley, 3B Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar of Fredenberg Township and 2A Rep.-elect Bidal Duran of Bemidji are among the 10 representatives who will make up the Republican leadership team for the 2025-26 biennium.
In the previous biennium, 7A Rep. Spencer Igo of Wabana Township was the only member of House Republican leadership from Northern Minnesota.
Joy and Zeleznikar are both entering their second terms, and Duran is newly elected. All three said on social media that they are honored to have been chosen by their colleagues.
"Thank you for this great opportunity to serve the caucus and our community!" Duran wrote on Facebook.
In separate news releases, Joy and Zeleznikar emphasized the need for bipartisanship.
The House will be evenly divided, with 67 legislators from each party. The House was last evenly split in 1979.
"Because of [the tie], every bill that moves through the committee process and advances to the floor will need to have bipartisan support to pass," Joy said. "I'm excited to work with the other side of the aisle to advance solutions to the problems facing everyday Minnesotans."
Earlier this week the DFL and Republican House leaders announced committee memberships will be equally divided between the parties and chaired by DFL and Republican co-chairs.
Zeleznikar noted that because of the committee structure, no bill will advance without bipartisan support.
"This kind of collaboration has been largely lacking in the legislature for the past two years as we saw countless changes to state statute passed with complete disregard for opposing perspectives," Zeleznikar said.
"The tie in the Minnesota House offers a unique opportunity to restore balance and accountability in our state government and I'm looking forward to this historic challenge."
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