MINNEAPOLIS _ Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to the U.S. Senate, where she'll replace Sen. Al Franken following his planned resignation following a sexual harassment scandal.
"First and foremost, I want to appoint the person who I believe will best represent the people of Minnesota in the United States Senate," Dayton said at a Capitol news conference, with Smith standing at his side. He said Smith "will be a senator of whom all Minnesotans can be proud."
Smith accepted the appointment, thanking Dayton and calling it a "great honor."
"Though I never anticipated this moment, I am resolved to do everything I can to move Minnesota forward," Smith said. "I will be a fierce advocate in the U.S. Senate for equity and fairness."
Smith also said she would run in the special election in November 2018 to choose a candidate to serve the final two years of Franken's current term.
"I will run in that election and I will do my best to earn Minnesota's support and I believe I can do that by being the best senator I can be," Smith said.
In selecting Smith, the governor is choosing one of his most trusted advisers and someone who has worked for years traveling the state and building relationships with influential DFLers and business leaders.
The pick sets in motion an election cycle that could dramatically alter the state's political landscape. For the first time in a generation, Minnesota voters will select a new governor and two U.S. Senators, high-stakes races in 2018 that are expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.
The selection also means Minnesota will have two female U.S. Senators for the first time in history.
For now, Smith must figure out what she wants to accomplish and how to mesh with other members in Congress, where Democrats are trying to push back against President Donald Trump and GOP majorities in both houses.
A DFL operative dating to the 1990s, Smith was Dayton's chief of staff for most of his first term. In 2014, he pulled her into elected politics by making her his running mate, replacing first-term Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon with someone who would come to be seen as perhaps his closest adviser.
Smith, 59, lives in southwest Minneapolis with her husband, Archie Smith, an investment manager. They have two adult sons. She moved to Minnesota in the 1980s for a marketing job at General Mills and later founded a marketing and public relations firm.
That led to work on a series of DFL campaigns, including as manager of Ted Mondale's 1998 bid for governor, and as an adviser to Walter Mondale's last-minute campaign for U.S. Senate in 2002 following the death of Paul Wellstone. The following year, Smith was recruited to become vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.
"She's got a pretty strong legacy around here," Sarah Stoesz, the organization's president and CEO, said in a 2015 interview.
Smith left Planned Parenthood in 2006 to take over as chief of staff for then-Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. Rybak competed in the 2010 race for governor, tapping Smith to run his campaign. When Dayton emerged victorious, he recruited Smith to join his campaign on the advice of his ex-wife, Alida Messinger, a major Democratic donor.
In recent years, Smith has become nearly as much the face of the administration as Dayton himself and has transformed the often obscure role of lieutenant governor. She is in the room when Dayton makes his biggest decisions, and was at the negotiating table _ sometimes sitting in for the governor himself _ during the high-stakes legislative talks.
For a time, Smith's growing profile led to speculation that she would run for governor herself. Instead, she decided not to join the field and focus on closing out the final year of Dayton's term.
