Steve Elkins recall, Minnesota House of Representatives (2025)

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Steve Elkins recall
Officeholders
Steve Elkins (D)
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
6,538 signatures
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in Minnesota Minnesota recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports

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This page covered one of the 29 recalls against Democratic state legislators in Minnesota. To read more about the 2025 Minnesota recalls, click here.

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The effort to recall Steve Elkins (D) from the District 50B seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives began on February 13, 2025. The secretary of state's office sent the recall petition to the Minnesota Supreme Court for review on February 14, 2025. On March 17, 2025, the court dismissed the recall petition due to a "failure to allege specific facts that, if proven, would constitute grounds for recall."

Proponents of the recall effort criticized Elkins and other House Democrats for their role in the boycott that delayed the start of the 2025 state legislative session. Click here to read more about the 2025 recall efforts against Democratic legislators in Minnesota.

Elkins was first elected to the chamber in 2018 and was re-elected in 2024 with 63% of the vote.

Recall supporters

The official language for the recall petition was not available, but according to the Minnesota Republican Party, the reasons for the recall were related to Democrats boycotting the beginning of the 2025 state legislative session. From January 14 to February 6, 2025, House Democrats boycotted the legislative session to block Republicans from taking advantage of a temporary one-seat majority.

State Republican chair Alex Plechash issued the following statement regarding the recalls: "While we are pleased that the no-show Democrats caved to grassroots pressure and the likelihood of a Supreme Court loss, the facts remain unchanged-facts that drove over 7,000 Minnesotans to sign recall petitions in just 24 hours. Just like a bank robber who returns the stolen money is still guilty of robbery, Democrats failed to show up for work for three weeks collected $300,000 in taxpayer-funded salaries, and held the state hostage during a time of crisis. So, we will continue the recall process to ensure there are consequences for the Democrats’ nonfeasance."

Background on the House Democrats' boycott of the state legislative session

After the November 2024 elections, both Democrats and Republicans secured 67 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives, resulting in an evenly split chamber. However, legal challenges to the general election results in two districts led to a disagreement between House Democrats and Republicans over how to proceed with chamber business. Before the representatives were sworn in, a judge ruled that the general election result in House District 40B was invalid. This ruling shifted the partisan balance to a 67-66 Republican majority with one vacancy. Republicans said their 67-66 majority authorized them to elect a speaker and control committee assignments. However, Democrats said the majority was temporary, and lawmakers could take no action without 68 votes.

Democrats boycotted the first day of the session on Jan. 14, 2025, after Republican leader Rep. Lisa Demuth (R) indicated that Republicans would use their majority vote to refuse to seat the general election winner for House District 54A. Secretary of State Steve Simon (D)—acting as presiding officer—adjourned the meeting after a roll call determined that 67 members present were not enough to start the session. Republicans appealed the order, moving to replace Simon as presiding officer with Rep. Paul Anderson (R). Republicans then overturned Simon’s order, declared a quorum, and elected Demuth as speaker.

In response, House Democrats petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court, arguing that House Republicans’ actions after Simon gaveled the meeting closed were unlawful. Simon filed a separate petition asking the court to weigh in on how many members need to be present to conduct business. The court heard oral arguments regarding the case on Jan. 23, 2025. On Jan. 24, the court ruled that 68 members must be present to declare a quorum in the chamber.

On Feb. 4, the Minnesota Republican Party announced they would start circulating recall petitions for all House Democrats. On February 5, 2025, Democrats and Republicans reached a power-sharing agreement, bringing an end to the boycott.

Recall opponents

As of February 19, 2025, Elkins had not issued a response to the recall effort.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Minnesota

First, a proposed recall petition must be submitted to the Minnesota Secretary of State specifying the grounds upon which the official should be recalled. The grounds for recall must be one of the following: malfeasance, nonfeasance, or a serious crime. For statewide offices, the petition must also include 25 signatures from eligible Minnesota voters. The secretary of state verifies the signatures and, if valid, submits them to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The court has 10 days to decide whether to dismiss the proposed petition or to schedule a public hearing to assess if the grounds for recall are sufficient. If a hearing is deemed necessary, the court will appoint a special master to handle the case. The hearing will take place within 21 days of the case being assigned, and the special master will submit a report to the court within seven days of the hearing. The court will make a decision on the proposed petition within 20 days of receiving the special master's report. If the court determines that the grounds for recall are valid, the court will order the secretary of state to issue a recall petition.

Once the recall petition is issued, petitioners have 90 days to collect signatures amounting to 25% of the votes cast for the affected office in the previous election. After the signatures are collected, the petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state for verification. If the signatures meet the requirements, the petition will be forwarded to the governor, and a date for the recall election will be scheduled.

The election will be a Yes/No ballot in which voters will select Yes if they are in favor of removing the official from office or No if they are against it. If a majority of voters vote Yes, the office will be declared vacant.

Historical state legislative recalls

Ballotpedia tracked 186 recall efforts against 168 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2024. During that time, 40 recalls made the ballot and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled. A breakdown of the state legislative recall efforts by year is displayed in the chart below:

Michigan state legislators drew more recall petitions than any other from 1913 to 2024. Three of those 60 recall efforts have been successful. Wisconsin and California followed with 32 and 25 recall efforts, respectively. Wisconsin led all states with six legislators recalled, while California had five. The most recent successful recall effort against a state lawmaker was in 2018 with California state Senator Josh Newman (D). A breakdown of the various recall efforts is displayed in the chart below:

Recall context

See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report

Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.

The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.

Election history

2024

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B

Incumbent Steve Elkins defeated Bob Gust in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Elkins (D)	63.2	16,524
		Bob Gust (R)	36.7	9,596
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	33

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,153
= 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. Incumbent Steve Elkins advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Bob Gust advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B.

2022

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B

Incumbent Steve Elkins defeated Beth Beebe in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Elkins (D)	63.1	14,425
		Beth Beebe (R)	36.9	8,437
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	15

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 22,877
= 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 50B

Incumbent Steve Elkins defeated incumbent Andrew Carlson in the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Elkins	61.1	3,179
		Andrew Carlson	38.9	2,025

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,204
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B

Beth Beebe advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 50B on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Beth Beebe	100.0	2,206

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,206
= 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.

2020

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B

Incumbent Steve Elkins defeated Joe Thalman in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Elkins (D)	62.2	17,883
	Submit photo	Joe Thalman (R)	37.7	10,836
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	21

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,740
= 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. Incumbent Steve Elkins advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Joe Thalman advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B.

2018

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B

Steve Elkins defeated Matt Sikich in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Elkins (D)	61.7	15,264
	Submit photo	Matt Sikich (R)	38.2	9,446
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	34

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,744 (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 49B

Steve Elkins advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Steve Elkins

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B

Matt Sikich advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 49B on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Matt Sikich

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.

See also

• Ballotpedia's Recall Report
• Minnesota House of Representatives
• Recall campaigns in Minnesota
• Political recall efforts, 2025
• State legislative recalls
• Minnesota recalls of Democratic state legislators, 2025

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Steve Elkins' House profile
• Minnesota Recall website

Footnotes

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