/r/50501 Mirror

I imagine the party refills the seat

Political parties do not have direct granted power or authority in any state or federal position. They are not officially part of the election process. They organize and group candidates, and spend millions on advertising but they aren't directly granted any power. States will run primary elections to assist parties in selecting a candidate to proceed to the general election, but the process the party uses is ultimately up to them for determining the name they want to submit for the general election. Neither of the current two major parties existed when the US was founded, and originally there were several others. The actual general election process doesn't care about parties at all. Our system has inevitably devolved into the two party system we have now because of the Electoral College process.

In most States, replacing a State legislator is done via a Special Election, and stays vacant until then. A quick Google search seems to show that is the case for Minnesota. So if that district doesn't solidly vote D, it will be up for grabs. On this current political climate right now, I'm not sure that it would shift R.

On the federal level the State Governor would appoint someone to the Congress/Senate until the next election. Depending on the State laws, because States control their own election process, they may not be required by law to appoint someone from the same party.

In a deeply divided political climate like this, forcing both the legislature and Senate into a tie can effectively shutdown the government. Which is great for a party with a goal of trying to obstruct any progress.