Minnesota Lieutenant Governor to Replace Al Franken in Senate
December 14, 2017 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Credit
Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune, via Associated Press
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.
Mr. Franken announced last week that he would resign after being accused by women of sexual misconduct.
Ms. Smith, the lieutenant governor since 2015, will serve as senator until at least next fall, when voters are expected choose a candidate to fill the remaining two years of Mr. Franken’s term.
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.
Credit
Zach Gibson for The New York Times
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.
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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.
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