Lisa Demuth
2019 - Present
2027
6
Lisa Demuth (Republican Party) is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 13A. She assumed office on January 8, 2019. Her current term ends on January 12, 2027.
The Minnesota House of Representatives elected Demuth state speaker of the House on February 6, 2025. She defeated Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) by a 67-65 vote along party lines. Demuth was the first Black person and first female Republican to be elected House speaker.[1]
Demuth was born in Paynesville, Minnesota, in 1967. She received a diploma from Bloomington Kennedy High School in 1985. Demuth was a business owner.[2]
Before being elected to the state House in 2018, Demuth served on the Rockville-Cold Spring-Richmond School District School Board from 2007 to 2018. In November 2022, House Republicans elected Demuth state House minority leader for the 2023-2024 legislative session.[3]
Minnesota was a Democratic trifecta heading into 2024; however, following the 2024 elections, the House was split 67-67, resulting in a divided government. After the election, Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson (D) was found ineligible to serve because he did not live in the district, giving Republicans a 67-66 majority until a March 11, 2025, special election in which David Gottfried (D) was elected to fill the vacancy. Before the special election, both parties reached a power-sharing agreement in February 2025 where Republicans governed as the majority, electing Demuth. Once the House returned to a tie, both parties shared power and committees returned to equal party representation, except in the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee.[4]
Following her 2025 election as House speaker, Demuth said, "There’s a lot of work that has to be done in a bipartisan fashion because we’re going to have to come together to pass bills. But it has to be affordable and there can’t be the waste of taxpayer dollars specifically in the area of fraud as we’ve seen just an unbelievable amount of fraud in the state of Minnesota."[5] University of Minnesota professor Kathryn Pearson spoke on Demuth's political philosophy: "Demuth is, on the one hand, a partisan Republican. On the other hand, [she] has shown herself to be someone who can work in a collaborative fashion. We’re likely to see both sides of her as speaker."[5]
Newsleaders' Dennis Dalman wrote in March 2025, "A fervid abortion opponent, Demuth has been considered a moderate conservative. Among the issues she is fighting for is prevention of waste, fraud and abuse in state grant funds managed by non-profit programs. Another of her legislative efforts, with other colleagues, is a 'Make Minnesota Affordable' strategy to lower taxes and the cost of living for families. Yet another effort is to ensure a strengthened support for Minnesota law-enforcement personnel and emergency medical workers."[6]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Demuth was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Demuth was assigned to the following committees:
- Early Childhood Finance and Policy Committee (decommissioned)
- Education Finance Committee
- Health Finance and Policy Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Incumbent Lisa Demuth defeated Cindy Aho in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lisa Demuth (R) | 75.3 | 19,215 |
| Cindy Aho (D) | 24.6 | 6,282 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 20 | ||
| Total votes: 25,517 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Cindy Aho advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lisa Demuth advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Demuth in this election.
2022
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Incumbent Lisa Demuth defeated Andrea Robinson in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lisa Demuth (R) | 74.0 | 15,190 |
| Andrea Robinson (D) | 25.9 | 5,324 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 11 | ||
| Total votes: 20,525 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Andrea Robinson advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lisa Demuth advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
2020
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Incumbent Lisa Demuth defeated Katy Westlund in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lisa Demuth (R) | 70.7 | 16,056 |
| Katy Westlund (D) | 29.1 | 6,610 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 28 | ||
| Total votes: 22,694 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Katy Westlund advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lisa Demuth advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A.
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Lisa Demuth defeated Jim Read in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lisa Demuth (R) | 61.0 | 11,348 |
 | Jim Read (D) | 38.9 | 7,243 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 10 | ||
| Total votes: 18,601 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Jim Read advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on August 14, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Read |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A
Lisa Demuth advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A on August 14, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Lisa Demuth |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lisa Demuth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Lisa Demuth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Lisa Demuth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Minnesota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 12 to May 20.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 22.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 31 to May 23.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 5 to May 17.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 11 to May 17. Special sessions were convened: June 12 to June 19; July 13 to July 21; August 12; September 11; October 12 to October 15; and November 12.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 20.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 20 through May 21.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A |
Officeholder Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Minnesota Legislature, "Full House convenes for first time in 2025, elects Demuth speaker," February 6, 2025
- ↑ Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Demuth, Lisa," accessed April 25, 2025
- ↑ SC Times, "Emmer, Demuth elected to House leadership positions," November 16, 2022
- ↑ The Minnesota Daily, "Minnesota House DFL, Republicans reach agreement ending boycott," February 11, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Minnesota Daily, "Getting to know House Speaker Lisa Demuth," February 17, 2025
- ↑ Newsleaders, "Demuth honored as a ‘Woman of the Year’," March 7, 2025
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by - |
Minnesota House of Representatives District 13A 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
