U.S. Sen. Tina Smith won’t seek re-election in 2026

WASHINGTON - Tina Smith will not run for reelection to the U.S. Senate, Minnesota’s junior senator announced in a video Wednesday.

“This decision is not political, it is entirely personal,” the Democrat said of her move, citing a desire to spend more time with her growing family.

Smith said in an interview Thursday she had been thinking about this decision “for a long time, well before the election,” and that it was not driven by President Donald Trump’s victory.

Instead, she plans to use the remainder of her term to push back on Trump and give Minnesota Democrats enough time to put together a game plan to hold her seat.

“There was never a moment where I said: ‘We lost the election, and therefore I don’t want to run,‘” she said. “It’s not as if we had won the election, I would have made a different decision. And I wanted to be able to let people know what my plans are early enough in 2025 that it gives the incredible deep bench of talent that we have in Minnesota to run and win a seat, that they had time to put together a campaign.”

Smith’s announcement has already created an early scramble among Minnesota Democrats. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan quickly announced she would run, and Gov. Tim Walz has not ruled out a bid. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s team said she was considering a run herself, and sources close to Rep. Angie Craig and Secretary of State Steve Simon also said they’re being encouraged to run.

Smith indicated she likely will not make an endorsement in the race.

“It is not my job to pick my successor,“ she said. ”That’s up to the voters of Minnesota to do."

Asked specifically about Flanagan and Walz, Smith said: “Peggy is great, I love Peggy” but declined to comment when asked if she thought Walz should run for her seat, saying it’s up to the candidates.

The last Republican who held a U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota was Norm Coleman, whose term ended in 2009.

Recent history points to a Democratic edge — Republicans have not won a statewide race since 2006. Smith won her first full term in 2020, beating former GOP Rep. Jason Lewis by just over 5 points. She was confident of winning if she had run again in 2026 and said she is confident Democrats will hold the seat.

Smith, 66, was appointed to the post by then-Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton in December 2017 to replace former Sen. Al Franken, who resigned following sexual misconduct allegations. She won a special election in 2018 and re-election in 2020. She had been Dayton’s lieutenant governor.

In her announcement, Smith said she was ready to welcome a new generation of leadership from Minnesota to take her spot.

“I think that sometimes in politics, people get into these jobs and then they just stay. a long time. And I’m not judging anybody else for the decisions that they make. But for me, being able to make room for a new generation of leaders to step in and do their great work leading Minnesota and serving in the Senate is actually really invigorating to think about,” she said."

Smith had said at the end of last year that she planned to run for re-election, but she recently indicated having second thoughts.

Before she was a senator and lieutenant governor, Smith was Dayton’s chief of staff and a longtime political operative. She also previously served as the vice president of Planned Parenthood Minnesota.

In the Senate, Smith served on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was vocal on issues related to reproductive rights.

Smith left her post as vice chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) at the end of last year, a role in which she worked to help Democrats maintain a slim majority in the U.S. Senate.

But Republicans won the Senate, House and White House in the last election, resulting in a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber for now.

The Republican U.S. Senate campaign arm was quick to respond to Smith’s announcement. “Retire or lose,” The National Republican Senatorial Committee said on X.

Meanwhile, the state Republican Party vowed to flip not just Smith’s seat but the governor’s seat, too.

“This race is an opportunity to flip this Senate seat, add to the growing Republican majority, and ensure Minnesota families have a voice in Washington that actually represents them,” Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash said in a statement.

“But we won’t stop there — Republicans are ready to take back the governor’s office and every constitutional office for the first time in state history,“ Plechash continued.

Minnesota’s highest-ranking Republican, Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 GOP member in the U.S. House, appeared to rule out a run for her Smith’s seat.

“I am focused on doing the job I was elected to do and that is serving the great people of Minnesota’s Sixth District here in Congress. We have a lot of work to do to implement President Trump’s agenda and that’s where I’m concentrating my efforts,” Emmer said on X.

Democrats were quick to applaud Smith’s leadership in and out of the Senate.

“Tina has always done the work to improve people’s lives: Lowering the price of insulin, improving access to mental health services, passing historic climate legislation, and our party’s champion for reproductive freedom,” Walz said. “Minnesotans will miss having her in the Senate.”

Smith’s colleague, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, praised her work, calling Smith not only a colleague but a friend.

“As the only senator to have worked at Planned Parenthood, Tina quickly became a leader in Washington in the fight to protect women’s rights,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “Tina also bravely shared her own story as part of her work to strengthen mental health services for all Americans. Her quiet but effective governing style earned her the title ‘The velvet hammer.’”