Democratic nominee Xp Lee wins special election, restores deadlock in Minnesota House
Minnesota’s House of Representatives has returned to a 67-67 deadlock after Democrat Xp Lee won a special election on Tuesday to fill the seat left vacant by the murder of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman.
Lee defeated Republican candidate Ruth Bittner in the suburban Minneapolis district. His victory restores the chamber’s power-sharing arrangement between Democrats and Republicans, which was first struck after Democrats lost their majority in the 2024 elections, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Hortman and her husband were killed in June in what prosecutors have described as a political assassination. The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter, is also accused of wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in the attack.
Lee, who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his family fled the Vietnam War, said his campaign was driven by a desire to continue Hortman’s legacy. “I wouldn’t be running if it wasn’t for the murder of Melissa Hortman,” he told AP. “I am very conscious of political and gun violence. I want to help our community heal.”
Bittner, a real estate agent, praised Hortman’s legacy during the campaign, saying she was “a very unique individual” who could not truly be replaced.
The election came just a week after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah, which brought renewed attention to the rise of political violence nationwide.
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