Republicans set sights on Senate seat from Minnesota after Democrat announces she won’t run for re-election

A seat in the U.S. Senate is in play after a Democratic senator from Minnesota announced that she is not going to run for re-election.

Sen. Tina Smith said on social media that she would give up the Senate seat after two terms since 2018. Minnesota’s other Senate seat is also occupied by a Democrat, but the decision by Smith gives Republicans a chance to strengthen their power in the upper chamber of the legislature.

‘After 20 years of hard and rewarding work in the public sector, I’m ready to spend more time with my family.’

“I’ve decided not to run for re-election to the Senate in 2026. This job has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote on the X platform. “For the rest of my term, I’ll work as hard as I can for Minnesotans and our country. Thank you so much, Minnesota.”

National Republican Senate Committee Chairman Tim Scott welcomed the opportunity.

“Minnesota is in play, and we play to win. Minnesotans deserve a Senator who will fight for lower taxes, economic opportunity, and safer communities,” he wrote.

Smith said she was making the decision in order to spend more time with her family.

“I have loved my job as United States Senator, and also, after 20 years of hard and rewarding work in the public sector, I’m ready to spend more time with my family,” she said in a video. “This decision is not political, it is entirely personal, but it’s not lost on me that our country is in need of strong progressive leadership right now, maybe more than ever.”

The state has not had an open U.S. Senate seat since 2008.

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