It took four hours for Republicans to pick Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) to be the next Minnesota Speaker of the House. They also chose Joyce Peppin (R-Rogers) to be the next Majority Leader. On Tuesday, Republicans won a majority of the seats in the House.
Daudt said their election was by acclimation, but refused to say how many ballots that took to reach. Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) and Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake) had said they were interested in the job too.
The Republican caucus will meet on December 2nd to elect the rest of its leadership team.
Daudt and Peppin said that the House has been too focused on Minneapolis and St. Paul and promised a more “balanced” focus that includes “greater Minnesota.”
Daudt said he also wants to focus on creating better paying jobs. He said the job growth in the last several years has been in the lower end of the pay scale.
