After candidate dies, judge must decide when to hold Minnesota congressional election

BURNSVILLE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A federal judge did not immediately decide Wednesday when Minnesota's Second congressional district election would be held after a candidate's death sent the race into chaos.

After a 75-minute hearing, Judge Wilhelmina Wright took the arguments under advisement withing saying when she would issue a ruling. The Nov. 3 election is 27 days away, meaning Wright faces time pressure to make a decision.

The September death of Legal Marijuana Now party candidate Adam Weeks triggered a state law that voids all votes in November and forces a special election in the race on Feb. 9. Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig sued, asking Wright to move the congressional district election back to November.

"States hold elections all the time where a candidate has died shortly before the election this happens," Kevin Hamilton, Craig's lawyer, said in a court hearing conducted virtually Wednesday morning. "Sad truth, all of us are mortal. It happens from time to time. When it happens, the election goes forward."

In announcing Weeks' death, Secretary of State Steve Simon told voters on Sept. 24 not to vote in the congressional district race in November because of the special election. Absentee voting had already been underway for six days.

The state law has been in place since 2013.

"It's the Minnesota Legislature’s determination that an election that’s conducted between a living candidate and a dead one is not one that the state of Minnesota believes is sufficient, is legitimate, to send a representative to Congress," said Nathan Hartshorn, an assistant Minnesota attorney general representing Simon.

If the law is allowed to stand, the congressional district -- which spans the south Metro from Shakopee to Red Wing -- would be without a representative from early January until the results of the Feb. 9 special election are certified.

Simon, a Democrat, had help in Wednesday's hearing from Republican candidate Tyler Kistner. Kistner's campaign, unlike Craig's, is fine with holding the February special election.

"They’re asking you to upend state law 27 days before an election, an election in which voters have already been told by the Secretary of State since Sept. 24 not to vote in the Second congressional district race," said R. Reid LeBeau, Kistner's attorney.

LeBeau said the death of a candidate is like a hurricane or an earthquake happening right before Election Day, arguing, "basically, it's a disaster" that requires a special election.

If the state law stands, voters in that district will still be able to vote for every other race on the ballot in November.