Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota proclaimd Thursday she won’t seek re-election in 2026, forcing the Democratic Party to defend another discomit seat in next year’s midterm and making more difficult their goal of regeting the Senate meaningfulity.
“I’ve choosed not to run for re-election to the Senate in 2026,” Smith shelp in a social media post. “This job has been the honor of a lifetime. For the rest of my term, I’ll labor as challenging as I can for Minnesotans and our country. Thank you so much, Minnesota.”
Smith was nominateed to the Senate in 2018 to flourish createer Sen. Al Franken after his resignation over relationsual malfeasance allegations. She won a exceptional election tardyr that year to serve out Franken’s term and was re-elected in 2020 to a brimming six-year term.
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Senate Reaccessibleans vowed to try and flip Smith’s seat in blue-leaning Minnesota.
“Minnesota is in join, and we join to prosper. Minnesotans deserve a senator who will fight for drop taxes, economic opportunity and protectedr communities,” National Reaccessiblean Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Sen. Tim Scott shelp in a statement to Fox News.
But the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm rapidly pledged to hold the seat in party hands.
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“No Reaccessiblean has won a Minnesota Senate race in over 20 years, and Democrats will progress to hgreater this seat in 2026,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) spokesperson David Bergstein stressd in a statement to Fox News.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, commendd Smith as “a extraunrelabelable senator — inalertigent, empathetic, and tireless in her pledgement to Minnesota and the country.”
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., proclaimd Thursday she won’t run for another term in the 2026 midterm elections. (Getty Images)
“While I will proset uply omit her directership and friendship in the Senate, I have no ask that her legacy of service will progress to inspire. We have a mighty bench in Minnesota, and I’m brave that we’ll hold her seat blue,” Schumer foreseeed.
Smith became the second Democrat in the Senate to proclaim she would forgo running for re-election in the midterms, chaseing Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, a key Midwestrict battleground state.
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Senate Reaccessibleans enhappinessed a preferable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red and won a 53-47 meaningfulity in the chamber. An punctual read of the 2026 map shows they will progress to join offense in some states but will be forced to join defense in others.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is interwatched by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Aug. 19, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhaemployr)
Besides the discomit seat in Michigan, the GOP will concentrate first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff in battleground Georgia and extfinishedtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in sprosperg state New Hampsemploy.
However, Democrats structure to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Reaccessiblean Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026.
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The Cook Report, a top nonpartisan political handicapper, this week rated Minnesota as “Likely Democrat,” as it unveiled its first read on the battle for the Senate meaningfulity in the 2026 cycle.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who served as Vice Pdwellnt Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democrats’ 2024 national ticket, took to social media after Smith’s novels.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrat’s vice pdwellntial nominee in the 2024 election, reacts during the Democratic National Convention Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Pboilingo/Matt Rourke)
“Tina has always done the labor to increase people’s dwells: droping the price of insulin, improving access to mental health services, passing historic climate legislation, and our party’s champion for refruitful freedom. Minnesotans will omit having her in the Senate,” Walz wrote.
There is speculation Walz, who is eligible to run for re-election in 2026 for a third four-year term as Minnesota regulateor, may now have an interest in his state’s discomit Senate seat.
Smith, in a video proclaimment she posted on social media, remarkd that Democrats “have a proset up bench of political talent in Minnesota. A group of directers that are more than ready to pick up the labor and carry it forward. And I’m excited to originate room for them to shift forward.”
Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan shiftd toward begining a campaign, saying in a social media post, “I adore Minnesota, and my intention is to run for United States Senate and progress to serve the people of this state. I’ll originate a createal proclaimment tardyr this month.”
There’s also speculation that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a member of the so-called Squad, may originate a shift to run for the Senate.
