Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 194
What Just Happened?
A new NBC News/Marist poll in Minnesota finds Sen. Tina Smith (D) leading challenger Karin Housley (R) among likely voters in the U.S. Senate race, 54% to 38%.
In Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D) reelection race, she leads opponent Jim Newberger (R) by 30 percentage points, 63% to 33%.
Key finding: “The poll finds that 53 percent of likely voters prefer a Congress controlled by Democrats after the November midterm elections, while 41 percent prefer Republicans.”
A new Mason-Dixon poll in Minnesota finds President Trump’s approval rating has dropped from 45% to 39%, while 56% disapprove of his handling of the job.
“In other results, Democrats are safely ahead of Republicans in nearly every major statewide race. Rep. Tim Walz (D) leads Jeff Johnson (R) by 9 points in the governor’s race, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) is up big over Jim Newberger (R), and Sen. Tina Smith (D) leads state Sen. Karin Housley (R) by 7 points.”
“The only real bright spot for Republicans? Doug Wardlow (R) is within striking distance of Rep. Keith Ellison (D) in the attorney general contest, though still trailing by 5 percentage points, with 18 percent undecided. That’s after Ellison was accused by an ex-girlfriend of domestic abuse, which he denies.”
“Richard Painter, a longtime Republican who was chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush’s White House, intends to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year as a Democrat,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
“Painter, a persistent and frequent critic of President Donald Trump on national cable TV news appearances and on Twitter, is expected to announce his candidacy at a Monday news conference. … [The] seat is up this fall in a special election, and [Tina] Smith has said she intends to run for a full six-year term.”
Former Rep. Michele Bachmannn (R-MN) told a radio host show that after much prayer, she has decided that God does not, in fact, want her to make a bid for U.S. Senate.
Said Bachmann: “I considered it for quite a long time. From the very first day when Al Franken had announced his resignation from the U.S. Senate, I went before the Lord and it became very clear to me that I wasn’t hearing any call from God to do this.”
A billboard in St. Paul, Minnesota, funded by “The Good Lord Above,” is sending former Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) the answer she was seeking.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) told Fox Business that he will not run for the Senate this year in Minnesota.
Said Pawlenty: “I am very interested in public service and service for the common good, there are a lot of different ways to do that, but I’ll tell you today that running for the United States Senate in 2018 won’t be part of those plans.”
Politico: “Republican leaders have failed to secure their top-choice candidate in eight of the 10 Senate races in states that Trump won in 2016.”
Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) revealed on the Jim Bakker Show that she is currently considering making a run for the U.S. Senate seat that is set to be vacated by Al Franken.
Bachmann said that she has “had people contact me and urge me to run for that Senate seat” and that she is asking God if doing so in His will for her.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Minnesota finds that a majority of voters don’t think Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) should resign, 50% to 42%.
Franken’s continued popularity is being driven especially by women. 57% of them like the job he’s doing to 37% who don’t.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) will not run in Minnesota’s special U.S. Senate election in 2018, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
“It remains to be seen if Tina Smith’s entry in the ‘18 race will clear the Democratic field in the race to replace Sen. Al Franken, who is resigning soon.”
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) will appoint Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (D) to replace Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) as Minnesota’s next U.S. senator until a special election is held next year, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Minnesota Public Radio says Smith will run in the special election for the seat in November.
The special election is expected to draw contenders on both sides. Even with Smith’s selection, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is mulling the race. Former GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) is being wooed by Republicans.
Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson (R) told Minnesota Public Radio that Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) should rescind his planned resignation and allow a formal ethics probe to continue in order to preserve due process.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) says he’s considering running for Sen. Al Franken’s (D-MN) U.S. Senate seat, KSTP reports.
Sen. Al Franken’s (D-MN) “seat wasn’t supposed to be up again until 2020. But his resignation Thursday amid allegations of sexual misconduct creates a 2018 special election in Minnesota. And Republicans, who hold a 52-48 majority, are now on the hunt for a top-tier candidate in a politically competitive state where President Trump lost by less than two percentage points last year,” NBC News reports.
“The unexpected opportunity could be a ‘total game-changer in terms of control of the Senate,’ said Republican strategist Alex Conant, a Minnesota native who worked in communications roles for the RNC and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2012 presidential campaign. ‘If we field a strong candidate.'”
Daily Beast: Here’s why Democrats forced Al Franken to do the right thing—and why they may come to regret it.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) “is expected to appoint his lieutenant governor and close ally, Tina Smith, to Al Franken’s seat if the Democratic senator resigns on Thursday,” Politico reports.
“But that appointment would be just the start of a huge upheaval in Minnesota.”
“Part of the reason Smith could be heading to the Senate, the sources said, is because she has indicated no interest in running for Congress in the past and would not run for the remainder of Franken’s term, which expires in 2020, in a 2018 special election. That would clear the way for a wide-open Democratic primary next year if Franken steps down.”
Member feature
Keep reading with a Political Wire membership
Members get Taegan Goddard’s analysis, every feature on the site and no ads.
Already a member? Sign in
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →