Minnesota lieutenant governor to fill Franken’s role until 2018 race
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Lt. Gov. Tina Smith will take over Al Franken’s seat in the U.S. Senate, the governor of Minnesota announced Wednesday, keeping a Democrat in the seat for now but setting the stage for a freewheeling 2018 election that could shift the balance of power in Minnesota and in Washington.
Franken announced last week that he would resign after being accused by women of sexual misconduct.
Smith, the lieutenant governor since 2015, will serve as senator until at least next fall, when voters are expected to choose a candidate to fill the remaining two years of Franken’s term. Smith also said that she plans to run for the office in that 2018 election.
Smith praised Franken’s Senate record, calling him “a real champion for this state,” but also said she saw a major shift underway in the national conversation about sexual harassment.
“I think in some ways, this sea change is being led by young women who tell women of my generation that maybe some of the things we put up with during our lives we shouldn’t have to put up with,” Smith said. “And that is a good thing, and it is so important that we don’t slide backward.”
Smith, who previously worked as chief of staff for the governor, has been especially visible in her role as lieutenant governor and widely discussed in recent days as a potential replacement for Franken.
Over a matter of three weeks, a growing number of allegations against Franken upended politics in a state that prides itself on clean governance.
The upheaval could provide an opening for Republicans, who control both chambers of the state Legislature but have struggled in statewide races over the last decade. President Donald Trump finished within 50,000 votes of Hillary Clinton here last year, closer than many analysts expected, and carried most counties outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
The election next year will include the governorship — Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, is not seeking another term — and both of the state’s Senate seats. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, is expected to seek re-election, and voters will decide who finishes Franken’s last two years.
Ambitious members of both parties have already announced their runs for governor, and some could now weigh a Senate campaign instead.
With a fight for partisan control of the Senate looming, Franken’s exit puts up for grabs a seat the Democrats had thought they were certain to hold until at least 2020. Given the stakes, Dayton had been urged by some in his party to pick a replacement who would stand for election in 2018 — boosted, presumably, by already having a year in office — and again for a full term in 2020.