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Al Franken’s Minnesota Seat to Be Filled by Tina Smith, a Democrat Al Franken’s Minnesota Seat to Be Filled by Tina Smith, a Democrat
(about 7 hours later)
ST. PAUL — Lt. Gov. Tina Smith will take over Al Franken’s seat in the United States 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. ST. PAUL — The campaign started immediately.
Mr. Franken announced last week that he would resign after being accused by women of sexual misconduct. Five minutes after being named as Al Franken’s temporary replacement in the United States Senate, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith of Minnesota said Wednesday that she would run for the job next fall, in an election for the two years left in Mr. Franken’s term.
Ms. 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 Mr. Franken’s term. Ms. Smith also said that she plans to run for the office in that 2018 election. Ms. Smith’s appointment keeps a Democrat in Mr. Franken’s seat for at least a year, but also cues up a seismic 2018 election that could shift the balance of power in Minnesota and, quite possibly, in the Senate.
Ms. Smith praised Mr. 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. Ms. Smith, a far less famous politician than Mr. Franken, whose resignation came amid accusations of sexual harassment, seemed eager to avoid being seen as a senator foisted upon Minnesotans.
“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,” Ms. Smith said. “And that is a good thing, and it is so important that we don’t slide backwards.” “Anybody who knows the voters of Minnesota knows that they can’t be told what to do,” Ms. Smith said at the State Capitol after Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, announced that he had appointed her. “My purpose is to go out and ask for those voters’ support, and that is my job to do.”
Ms. 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 Mr. Franken. Some Democrats here remain conflicted about Mr. Franken’s resignation, announced after some of his colleagues in Washington called on him to leave over the accusations. And Republicans, who control the Legislature but have struggled in statewide races, sense an opportunity to pick off the seat, which they had expected was out of reach until at least 2020.
Over a matter of three weeks, a growing number of allegations against Mr. Franken upended politics in a state that prides itself on clean governance and high voter turnout. Next year’s ballot will also include an open race for governor — Mr. Dayton is not seeking another term — and an election for Senator Amy Klobuchar’s position. Ms. Klobuchar, a well-known Democrat, is expected to run for another six-year term.
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 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 metropolitan area. “The opportunity for Minnesota Republicans is actually quite bright,” said Jennifer Carnahan, the chairwoman of Minnesota’s Republican Party. She added that President Trump’s narrow defeat here in 2016, four years after Mitt Romney lost the state by more than seven percentage points, indicated the most favorable political landscape for her side in more than a decade. “I think we’re definitely a key player when you look at the national map in a way that maybe we haven’t been in the past.”
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. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, is expected to run for re-election, and voters will decide who finishes the last two years of Mr. Franken’s term. Several prominent Republicans had already lined up for the governor’s race, and some might now consider challenging Ms. Smith for the Senate. Ms. Carnahan criticized Ms. Smith as a member of the “very far left” whose appointment “was calculated to appease the Democrats out in Washington.”
Ambitious members of both parties have already announced their runs for governor, and some could now weigh a Senate campaign instead. Ms. Smith, a longtime figure in Democratic politics and a former executive with the regional Planned Parenthood organization, spent most of her career behind the scenes before becoming lieutenant governor in 2015. Those who have worked with Ms. Smith described her as smart and able to work across party lines, but also politically savvy and committed to Democratic issues.
With a fight for partisan control of the Senate looming, Mr. 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, Governor 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. R.T. Rybak, a former Minneapolis mayor for whom Ms. Smith served as chief of staff, said he had nicknamed her “the velvet hammer” because she is “tough when she has to be.”
But the move carries its own risks. In the 1970s, outraged voters swept Democrats out of office after the party’s governor tried to engineer his own appointment to a vacant Senate seat. That led some political observers to suggest Mr. Dayton would be wise to pick a temporary replacement who only intended to hold the job until the voters could make their own choice next year. “She is just that rare person who somehow can find a way to crack even the toughest seals people put up,” Mr. Rybak said. “But nobody should mistake that for her being a wimp.”
In a news conference at the Minnesota Capitol, Ms. Smith seemed to address those suggestions after announcing that she intends to run for the job next year. But Ms. Smith may still need to introduce herself to regular voters. On the snow-dusted sidewalks of St. Paul, friendly political turf for Ms. Smith, some Minnesotans said they knew little or nothing about their soon-to-be senator.
“Anybody who knows the voters of Minnesota knows that they can’t be told what to do,” Ms. Smith said. “My purpose is to go out and ask for those voters’ support, and that is my job to do.” “I wish he would have appointed someone with bigger name recognition in Minnesota, with a better chance of getting re-elected,” said Carrie Lindgren, a Democrat who said she was excited by the Democrats’ Senate win in Alabama the previous night.
Mr. Dayton praised his lieutenant governor as “extremely intelligent, quick to learn and always open to hearing others’ views,” and endorsed her 2018 candidacy. He said the months before the special election would give voters time “to size up and assess” Ms. Smith. Rolf Lowenberg-DeBoer of White Bear Lake, Minn., said he was pleased to see a woman appointed to Mr. Franken’s seat but did not know enough about Ms. Smith to pass judgment.
Mr. Dayton said he had yet to receive any official notice of resignation from Mr. Franken, but expected him to leave office in early January. “I don’t know if she’ll be able to win an election,” said Mr. Lowenberg-DeBoer, a Democrat who said he was concerned Republicans could make gains here next year. “She hasn’t been on the campaign trail that much, at least not by herself. So that’s a big unknown.”
“I don’t have anything in writing,” Mr. Dayton said. “I know Senator Franken is a man of his word. I know he gave this a great deal of very intense thought. And, again, I fully expect that he will follow through and resign.” Others questioned whether Mr. Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member who had been discussed as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, should have been pushed to resign, suggesting that his behavior was less egregious than claims against Mr. Trump.
“I don’t think he had to go,” said Al Rosario, a carpenter from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. “I feel he’s a comedian. He was probably just joking.” Mr. Rosario said he had not heard of Ms. Smith.
Ms. Smith praised Mr. Franken’s Senate record, calling him “a real champion for this state.” But she also said she saw a necessary shift underway in attitudes relating to sexual harassment.
Two congressmen — John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, and Trent Franks, Republican of Arizona — have also announced their exits amid allegations of sexual harassment. And Roy S. Moore, the Republican nominee for Senate in Alabama, lost his election on Tuesday after being accused of sexual misconduct.
“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,” said Ms. Smith, 59, who was born in New Mexico but has spent most of her adult life in Minnesota. “And that is a good thing, and it is so important that we don’t slide backwards.”
Mr. Dayton praised his lieutenant governor as “extremely intelligent, quick to learn and always open to hearing others’ views,” and endorsed her candidacy in the 2018 election.
Even as Ms. Smith outlined her goals in her new job, her start date remained unclear. Mr. Dayton said he had yet to receive any official notice of resignation from Mr. Franken, but expected him to leave office in early January.
Mr. Franken released a statement on Wednesday saying that Ms. Smith “will make an excellent” senator and that he looked “forward to working with her on ensuring a speedy and seamless transition.” He did not provide a resignation date.
Ms. Smith’s swearing-in to the Senate will set off a new round of political musical chairs here. Under Minnesota law, a Republican state senator is next in line to become lieutenant governor, which could put the party’s narrow majority in that chamber in jeopardy. Some have suggested that a special legislative session may be called to sort out the issue.