Minnesota Rep. Duane Quam of Byron gives angry outburst at a committee hearing, video goes viral

Mar. 8—ROCHESTER — State Rep. Duane Quam and Robert Rules of Order weren't seeing eye-to-eye at a hearing Wednesday.

A short video posted on Twitter by the Minnesota DFL Party shows Quam in an angry outburst, frustrated over his inability to ask questions about an early voting proposal under consideration. The eruption took place today at a hearing of the House Elections and Policy committee in St. Paul.

The

2:20 minute clip

shows Quam, R-Byron, yelling, insisting on his right to ask questions, even as DFL chairman Mike Freiberg pounds his gavel, vainly trying to impose order on the hearing.

"Then haul me out of the committee if you're not going to allow us to actually debate the darn bill," said Quam, his voice rising to a crescendo of anger.

House hearings are governed by rules aimed at creating orderly debate and decision-making. To facilitate discussion, a member isn't supposed to speak until recognized by the chair. But Quam forged ahead anyway.

Quam's stormy behavior contrasted with the normally dry and formalized nature of most legislative committee hearings.

"No. I will not allow you to ignore valid questions. I didn't get an answer to my first question," Quam yells. "You say, 'No follow-ups.' You need to actually cover the bill."

Nine hours after its posting, the video had amassed more than 52,000 views.

The DFL chastised Quam on its Instagram account for throwing a "bizarre and childish temper tantrum ... Minnesota House Republicans needs to do better than this."

In a phone message left with the Post Bulletin, Quam said legislative issues can occasionally spur passionate debate. And the question of how elections are conducted is a "big and important issue." He noted that he and the chairman have a good working relationship and talked after the hearing.

"It can be very frustrating trying to get answers to questions and dig into bills. There's a lot of bills on the schedule, so oftentimes there is a dichotomy between digging into the bills and moving along through the schedule," he said.

During the hearing, when he could get a word in, Freiberg accused Quam of "impugning motives" — a no-no in parliamentary debate — and "creating a spectacle." But the DFL chairman refrained from criticizing Quam after the hearing in an email to the PB, suggesting it was turbulent water under the bridge.

"The Elections Committee frequently hears bills that by nature evoke strong opinions and emotions from both sides of the aisle," Freiberg said in an email to the PB. "This is because we all want what's best for Minnesotans, and sometimes we differ in opinion of how to do that.

"Representative Quam and I have maintained a great relationship over the years, and he and I spoke after the committee concluded. All is well. We both look forward to working together more throughout the session," he added.

Rep. Luke Frederick, DFL-Mankato, is the author of the early voting proposal that sparked Quam's outburst. Frederick did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment, but admitted that things "got a little 'spicy" in a retweet of the video.

This is not the first time that Quam has struggled with impulse control in a public setting. The state lawmaker was the subject of unflattering media attention in 2018 after yanking the microphone from then-DFL challenger Jamie Mahlberg during a debate hosted at the Rochester Public Library.

The aggressive reach caused the audience to gasp and startled Mahlberg. A video of the incident circulated widely on social media. Quam later apologized in a Facebook post.