Demuth was first elected to the
Minnesota House of Representatives in
2018. She was recruited to run by the former representative for 13A,
Jeff Howe, who was stepping down to run for the
Minnesota Senate. During the 2021-22 legislative session, Demuth served as an assistant minority leader in the House. After the
2022 Minnesota House of Representatives Election saw Republicans fail to flip the House from Democratic control, the Republican caucus elected Demuth minority leader. She has portrayed herself as more collaborative and calmer than her predecessor,
Kurt Daudt. According to the
American Conservative Union's scorecard, Demuth was ranked as less conservative than the average Republican legislator.
2025 speaker dispute In the opening session of the
94th Minnesota Legislature on January 14, 2025, only the 67 elected House Republicans attended. The 66 elected DFL members were absent in an effort to prevent a quorum. Secretary of State
Steve Simon presided over the chamber and left, ruling that there was no quorum. Republican members proceeded to elect Demuth as
Speaker of the House and continued with normal legislative business for two weeks with Demuth presiding. On January 24, the
Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that because of the absence of a quorum, Demuth's election and all action that followed were invalid. On February 5, 2025, the two parties reached an agreement to end the DFL boycott of the legislative session that included making Demuth speaker. == 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial campaign ==