Sen. Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minneapolis) will be the next Senate Majority Leader at the start of the 2023 legislative session in January. Dziedzic has been in office since 2012; this is the first leadership position she will hold in the Senate.

The DFL won a majority in both chambers after Tuesday’s election, giving them the first unified party government since 2015.

In a Q&A with the Minnesota Daily over the summer, Dziedzic said her priorities for the upcoming session are to help with student loan credits as well as aiding student debt. She also mentioned the higher education bill from last session should have included more funds for public safety and education grants.

“I’m honored to have earned the trust of my colleagues in the DFL caucus to serve as majority leader,” said Dziedzic in a statement Thursday announcing her leadership. “Together with our colleagues in the House DFL majority and Governor Walz, we will now get to work to deliver an agenda that moves Minnesota forward.”

Dziedzic is replacing Sen. Melisa Lopéz Franzen (Edina) as the DFL party leader and Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) as majority leader after the Senate flipped control. Republicans have held a majority since 2017.

Also on Thursday, Senate Republicans announced Sen. Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) would be the minority leader, replacing Miller as the GOP party leader. Johnson was the deputy majority leader in the past legislative session.

The House DFL also announced they reelected current Speaker Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park) to continue in the role and replaced Rep. Ryan Winkler (Golden Valley), who was running for Hennepin County Attorney, with Rep. Jamie Long (Minneaoplis) as majority leader. House Republicans have not released any information on their leadership for the next session.