Tim Walz, Ilhan Omar reportedly considering runs
Democratic senator Tina Smith (Minn.) announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection in 2026, complicating her party’s effort to retake the Senate and sparking a frenzy of interest from Democrats in the state.
Smith in a video posted on X said she will retire at the end of her term, in January 2027. The announcement comes after Michigan senator Gary Peters, who led Senate Democrats’ campaign efforts in the past two election cycles, said in late January that he will not run in next year’s midterm elections.
Reports immediately broke that multiple Minnesota Democrats, including failed 2024 vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, are weighing Senate runs. If Walz runs, he will have to face off against his own lieutenant governor, Penny Flanagan, who announced on Instagram that she will seek the open seat.
Anti-Semitic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who has said American support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins” and criticized the Jewish state after Hamas’s October 7 attack on it, is also considering running, with spokesman Connor McNutt telling Axios that Omar “will be talking with Minnesotans” about the “future of the Senate seat.”
Other Democrats reportedly considering a bid include congresswoman Angie Craig, state attorney general Keith Ellison, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, and disgraced former senator Al Franken. On the Republican side, 2024 nominee Royce White has expressed interest.
Democrats face an uphill battle to regain control of the Senate, needing to defend 2 open seats and achieve a net gain of 4 to overturn the 53-47 Republican majority.
While no Republican has won a Minnesota Senate race since 2006, President Donald Trump delivered the strongest performance in the state for a GOP presidential candidate in two decades, securing around 47 percent of the vote.
Smith, 66, was appointed to the Senate in 2018 after Franken resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations. She won a special election that year to complete Franken’s term and was reelected in 2020 for a full six-year term.
