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ST. PAUL, MN
The Minnesota House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee voted Monday to advance a bill that would ask voters to decide whether to place term limits on the governor and lieutenant governor, sending the measure to the Rules Committee for further consideration.
House File 1849, authored by Rep. Jimmy Gordon, R-Isanti, would propose a constitutional amendment limiting both the governor and lieutenant governor to two four-year terms. If approved by voters at the 2026 general election, the limits would take effect beginning in 2030, meaning elections prior to that year would not count toward the cap.
Because the measure proposes amending the Minnesota Constitution rather than enacting a statute, it would require approval by the Legislature and then a majority vote of Minnesotans at the ballot box before taking effect.
The bill drew a sharp partisan divide in committee. Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, argued the bill was unnecessary, saying voters already have a built-in mechanism to remove officials who overstay their welcome, and that mechanism is called an election. Rep. Drew Roach, R-Farmington, countered that the bill would not make term limits law outright, but would simply allow Minnesotans to vote on the question themselves.
Minnesota is currently one of 13 states that place no limits on the number of terms a governor can serve, along with Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Only one governor in modern Minnesota history has served more than two consecutive terms. Rudy Perpich was appointed to fill out the term of Wendell Anderson when Anderson resigned, and Perpich then won the governorship in both 1982 and 1986, spending a total of 10 years in office.
The bill's timing is notable. Gov. Tim Walz initially announced a bid for a third term in September 2025 but withdrew from the race on January 5, 2026. The 2026 gubernatorial race is now an open contest on the DFL side, with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and others among the candidates who have entered or are considering entering the field.
Gordon's bill carries 21 Republican co-authors and one DFL co-author. Gordon, a business owner, firefighter, and former mayor of Isanti, was elected to the House in November 2024, filling the District 28A seat covering Cambridge, Isanti, and North Branch.
The bill now moves to the House Rules Committee for further discussion.
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