Kaela Berg recall, Minnesota House of Representatives (2025)

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Kaela Berg recall
Officeholders
Kaela Berg (D)
Recall status
Underway
Signature requirement
4,902 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 covers 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 Kaela Berg (D) from the District 55B seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives began on February 18, 2025. The secretary of state's office sent the recall petition to the Minnesota Supreme Court for review on February 20, 2025. The court will now determine if the grounds for recall are valid. If the court approves the petition, recall supporters will have 90 days to gather 4,902 signatures to trigger a recall election.

Proponents of the recall effort criticize Berg 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.

Berg was first elected to the chamber in 2020 and was re-elected in 2024 with 59% of the vote.

Recall supporters

The official language for the recall petition is not available, but according to the Minnesota Republican Party, the reasons for the recall are 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 released the following statement on the recalls: "These legislators have failed in their responsibility to the people of Minnesota, and we are making sure taxpayers hold them accountable. If you refuse to show up for work, you shouldn’t get paid. That’s why thousands of Minnesotans are standing together to say: Enough is enough."

He added, "The DFL has been irresponsible with taxpayer money—burning through an $18 billion surplus and leaving Minnesota facing a potential deficit. At the same time, crime is increasing, fraud is widespread, and our students are falling behind. Minnesotans deserve stronger leadership, and this recall effort is the path to reclaiming our state."

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 21, 2025, Berg 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.

Current status

On February 21, 2025, the 29 recalls against Democratic state legislators in Minnesota were consolidated. As of March 5, 2025, the recall petitions were pending review by the Minnesota Supreme Court, which will decide whether to dismiss the recalls or appoint a special master.

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:

2022

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 55B

Incumbent Kaela Berg defeated Van Holston in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 55B on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kaela Berg (D)	58.4	9,288
	Submit photo	Van Holston (R)	41.5	6,601
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	11

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,900
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kaela Berg advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 55B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Van Holston advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 55B.

2020

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 56B

Kaela Berg defeated Roz Peterson in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 56B on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kaela Berg (D)	52.3	12,179
		Roz Peterson (R)	47.6	11,073
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	30

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,282
= 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. Kaela Berg advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 56B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Roz Peterson advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 56B.

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
• Kaela Berg's House profile
• Minnesota Recall website