>> ERIC: THIS ELECTION WAS CLOSE, AND NOTHING SYMBOLIZES THAT MORE THAN THE FACT THE MINNESOTA HOUSE APPEARS TO BE IN A TIE WITH 67 MEMBERS OF EACH PARTY WINNING.

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF RECOUNTS YET TO HAPPEN, BUT EVERYONE AT THE CAPITOL IS BRACING FOR A TIE.

REPORTER MARY LAHAMMER TRACKED DOWN SOME KEY PLAYERS LAST TIME THERE WAS AN EVENLY DIVIDED HOUSE FOR THEIR UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE.

>> HOW SWEET IT IS!

>> THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLICAN RENAISSANCE IN THIS STATE!

>> Mary: THE 1978 ELECTION WAS FULL OF UNANTICIPATED UPHEAVAL, RESULTING IN A TIED MINNESOTA HOUSE AFTER DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR WENDELL ANDERSON WAS PERCEIVED AS APPOINTING HIMSELF TO THE U.S. SENATE.

>> I ACCEPT THEIR JUDGMENT.

>> Mary: YOU WERE HERE ON THE GROUND WHEN THE SENATE AS TIED AND THE HOUSE?

>> I WAS HERE WHEN THE SENATE WAS TIED IN '71 AND I WAS HERE AS NICK COLEMAN'S CHIEF OF STAFF IN 1979 WHEN THE HOUSE WAS TIED.

THE TIE IN 1971 WAS OVER IN EIGHT DAYS, WHEN THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED THAT THE DEMOCRATS COULDN'T VIOLATE SEPARATION OF POWERS BY USING THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AS THE DECIDING VOTE ON ORGANIZING THE SENATE AND ON TIES.

>> THE CLERK PROTEM -- >> Mary: AND IN THE HOUSE, THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S JOB THEN AND NOW WAS TO CONVENE SESSION.

>> IT'S A LOVELY CEREMONY.

>> Mary: USUALLY.

>> USUALLY A LOVELY CEREMONY, UNTIL 1979, AND IT WAS TIED.

AND AS I UNDERSTAND IT HAD NEVER BEEN TIED BEFORE.

THEY STILL HADN'T OFFICIALLY COME TOGETHER.

I WOULD GO OVER THERE EVERY DAY, CALL THE SESSION TO ORDER, AND THEN IN A FEW MINUTES WE'D ADJOURN THE SESSION.

IT WAS EXTREMELY TENSE, AND IT REALLY WAS STARTING FROM SCRATCH.

>> Mary: REPUBLICANS IN '79 RODE A RED WAVE WITH MORE NEW MEMBERS THAN OLD ONES.

SO A PRE-AGREED-TO POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT DID NOT HAPPEN AHEAD OF TIME.

>> BECAUSE IT'S SO COMPLEX.

IT'S NOT ONLY A QUESTION OF WHO'S GOING TO BE SPEAKER, WHO'S GOING TO CHAIR THE COMMITTEES, BUT YOU HAVE HOUSE STAFF, WHEN HERE'S A MASSIVE CHANGE IN THE MEMBERSHIP AS IT WAS THEN, WHERE THE DEMOCRATS WENT FROM 131 DOWN TO 67.

THEY'RE GOING TO LOSE A LOT OF STAFF.

AND THAT'S PAINFUL.

THERE WERE MORE FRESHMAN THAN THERE WERE EXPERIENCED LEGISLATORS.

SO HE BRINGS IN ALL THESE BRAND-NEW MEMBERS WHO DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THE RESTROOMS WERE.

>> BOY, THEY WORKED HARD, ONCE THEY PICKED THEIR COMMITTEES AND FIGURED IT OUT.

WHAT THEY DECIDED WAS THAT THE REPUBLICANS WOULD GET THE SPEAKERSHIP AND THE DEMOCRATS WOULD GET THE THREE OR FOUR MOST IMPORTANT COMMITTEES.

NOW THE DEBATE WENT ON FOR SOME TIME AS TO WHO HAD THE BETTER DEAL.

YOU CAN IMAGINE.

>> Mary: WHAT DO YOU THINK IN RETROSPECT?

YOU KNOW POLITICS.

>> I KNOW POLITICS.

I TEND TO THINK THE DEMOCRATS ENDED UP WITH THE BETTER DEAL.

>> Mary: EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T GET THAT TOP SPOT?

>> EVEN HOUGH DIDN'T GET THE TOP SPOT, THEY WERE CHAIRING THE IMPORTANT AND THEY GOT TO DECIDE WHICH BILLS WERE HEARD THROUGH THOSE COMMITTEES WHICH AUTOMATICALLY WENT TO THE FLOOR.

>> Mary: THE LAST TIME THE MINNESOTA HOUSE WAS IN A TIE, THE REPUBLICAN LEADER AT THE TIME WROTE BOOK CALLED "MINNESOTA STANDOFF, THE POLITICS OF DEADLOCK" AND HAD A SPECIFIC QUOTE SAYING, IT'S NOT A VICTORY FOR THE DEMOCRAT OR THE REPUBLICAN, BUT, QUOTE, RATHER, A REAFRATION OF THE -- REAFFIRMATION OF THE WISDOM AND WORKABILITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS.

>> NOW IS THE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND TRY TO HAVE A CIVIL CONVERSATION WITH THE OTHER SIDE.

>> Mary: LOOKING HROUGH ALL THE PHOTOS COLLECTED BY LONGTIME HOUSE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER TOM OLMSCHEID, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO MISS THE MASSIVE MAJORITY OF MEN IN THE LEGISLATURE.

YOU'RE THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, PRACTICALLY.

>> THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TRUE.

YOU KNOW, I WAS THE ONLY WOMAN FOR SO LONG, IT SEEMED, IN SO MANY CIRCLES THAT I JUST GOT KIND OF USED TO IT.

BUT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, I WAS ELECTED IN 1972.

AND AT THE TIME I RAN, THERE WAS ONE WOMAN IN THE LEGISLATURE, ONE.

>> Mary: THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO SOON INCREASE, IN FACT, THE MAJORITY OF THE CURRENT SENATE MAJORITY ARE WOMEN.

>> THAT'S BEEN A GREAT DEVELOPMENT.

I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS STORY, BUT WHEN NANCY WAS ELECTED TO THE SENATE IN 1974 IN A SPECIAL ELECTION, AND THERE WAS REALLY AN ARGUMENT MADE THAT IT WAS POSSIBLY A WASTE OF STATE DOLLARS TO BUILD A RESTROOM WHEN THERE WAS ONLY ONE WOMAN AND AFTER HOW LONG WAS SHE GOING TO BE AROUND.

>> Mary: THEY PAVED THE WAY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE.

>> IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR ME TO BE SURROUNDED BY ALL THIS TESTOSTERONE, YOU KNOW.

AND THEN THE ATTITUDE THEN, MEN WEREN'T ACCUSTOMED TO WORKING WITH WOMEN AS HEIR EQUALS.

>> Mary: MINNESOTA HAS YET TO ELECT A WOMAN AS GOVERNOR.

MUCH LIKE THE PRESIDENCY.

>> IT'S SHOCKING TO ME THAT WE'RE NOT READY TO ACCEPT A WOMAN AS HE LEADER OF OUR COUNTRY.

BUT APPARENTLY THAT APPEARS TO BE AN ISSUE.

WE'VE COME A LOPPING WAY IN SOME WAYS, AND, YET, WE'VE GOT A ONG WAY TO GO.

>> IT'S SO EXCITING, I THINK, BECAUSE BOTH MELISSA AND LISA