Minnesota House Democrats have made their leadership choice. Rep. Zack Stephenson is now lined up to become the chamber’s next speaker.
The decision puts a familiar DFL figure at the center of a new legislative session. It also comes at a moment shaped by a big election win, a tough fiscal outlook, and the lasting shadow of Melissa Hortman’s death in June 2025.
A leadership choice with real weight
Rep. Zack Stephenson, a DFL lawmaker from Coon Rapids, was selected by his caucus Thursday night as speaker-designate for the 2027-2028 biennium. Stephenson has served as DFL caucus leader since 2025, and he was first elected to the House in 2018. In a statement after the vote, he said he was honored to become the 60th Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He also said the caucus would govern in a way that would make Melissa Hortman proud.
That reference mattered because Hortman, the Speaker Emerita from Brooklyn Park, was assassinated in June 2025. Stephenson had worked on Hortman’s 2004 campaign, so his elevation carries both political and personal meaning. He is now stepping into the same chamber leadership role once held by a lawmaker he knew early in his political career. For House Democrats, that gives this transition an emotional dimension beyond a routine caucus vote.
The broader leadership team is also set. The caucus picked Rep. Jamie Long of Minneapolis as majority leader and Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura of Minneapolis as majority whip for the session that starts Jan. 12 and must end by May 17.
A bigger majority, but major limits
Stephenson is expected to lead a House with a projected 77-57 DFL advantage after Tuesday’s election. If that margin holds, it would be the party’s largest House majority since the 87-47 split in the 2009-2010 biennium. One race is still not fully settled, though, because Rep. Nolan West’s 22-vote win over DFL candidate Amanda Matchett is headed to a recount. Even with that uncertainty, the incoming balance clearly favors Democrats.
Sencer-Mura framed the result as a mandate at a Friday morning news conference. She said voters in Minnesota and across the country chose what she called the better Democratic offer. She also said the caucus now has a responsibility to deliver with Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar and the Minnesota Senate. Her message was that Minnesota should continue acting as an antidote to the MAGA agenda.
Still, a larger majority does not erase governing constraints. No committee chairs have been announced yet, and the biggest challenge may be financial, not political.
The agenda ahead and the budget test
The House DFL caucus released its 2027 policy agenda in July, and it is broad. The list includes lowering child care, health care, and housing costs, closing tax loopholes used by the ultra-wealthy and corporations, preventing fraud in state programs, and protecting access to birth control, in-vitro fertilization, and abortion. It also includes mental health support in schools, safe drinking water, accountability tied to Operation Metro Surge, and a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The problem is timing and money. Lawmakers are staring at a possible budget deficit in the coming biennium, while Gov.-elect Klobuchar has pledged no new taxes. Stephenson said middle-class and working-class Minnesotans are already paying their fair share. He also pointed to uncertainty in the stock market and said the November and February forecasts will matter as the House builds its plans.
He added that possible federal cuts could make the picture worse, especially for health care funding in Minnesota. Stephenson also said gun violence will likely be an early-session priority, with a bill probably similar to what the Senate passed last session. For him and for the caucus, he said, that issue is personal after Hortman’s death in 2025.
