Cold Spring's Demuth Highest Ranking Elected Republican in MN

ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- From the ROCORI school board to the Speaker of the Minnesota House Cold Springs' Lisa Demuth's political career has risen rapidly.

She is currently the highest-ranking elected Republican in Minnesota, and with the GOP expecting to have a slim majority when the session begins on January 14th Demuth is expected to take over as the Speaker of the House. (A judge ruled a special election has to take place for a House seat in the Twin Cities, giving the GOP a one-seat majority at least to start the session. Another House race in Shakopee is also being challenged by the GOP)

Lisa Demuth

As for future aspirations and a possible run for governor in two years, she says right now she's focused on the upcoming session.

My eyes and my focus, every bit of energy that I have is on getting this session started in a professional and peaceful way because there's a lot of tension there. That is my focus for the next two years.

Demuth was first elected as a Minnesota House Representative in 2018, just four years later in 2022 she became the House Minority Leader. She is starting her fourth term representing District 13A.

She says she didn't initially have aspirations to become a party leader.

I never expected to be where I am right now, not because I was told I couldn't, I just hadn't thought of it. Right now, I'm doing the hard work that's in front of me. Anything that might be further out there is not really on my radar.

If Demuth does decide to run for a higher office at some point, she will have her work cut our for her. The last time a Republican won any statewide office in Minnesota was Tim Pawlenty in 2006, 19 years ago.

Photo: Grant Erickson, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

The Session:

Fraud and government waste are expected to be a hot topic during the upcoming Minnesota State Legislative Session.

Demuth says with the recent fraud cases in Minnesota no one has been held accountable so far.

Nobody's lost their job, they acknowledge that it's there. What we want to do as House Republicans, now having gavel, is to really shine a light on the fraud, bring those commissioners in - not as a gotcha - but just say we know you have fraud, what are you doing, if anything, to stop it.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he will announce this (Friday) morning a new legislative package ahead of the 2025 session to prevent, detect, investigate, and penalize fraud. The proposal will use artificial intelligence to enhance fraud detection and create tighter controls on spending.

Walz says he will also sign an executive order creating a centralized state fraud investigations unit with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension dedicated to investigating fraud and financial crimes.

Lisa Demuth, photo by WJON.com's Alex Svejkovsky

Balancing the state's budget will also be a top priority during the upcoming Minnesota State Legislative session. Demuth of Cold Spring says some belt-tightening will have to happen in state government.

We have to look at how we are spending taxpayer dollars in Minnesota. If there is waste going on, or known fraud, what are the commissioners doing to combat that, how are they changing things so we don't have continued fraud? And then there's the deficit, how can they find cost savings within their own agency?

Republicans are expecting to have a slim majority in the Minnesota House to start the legislative session, with a special election for one House seat.