Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) announced on Thursday that she won’t run for re-election in 2026, becoming the second Democratic senator this year to declare her intentions to retire when her term ends in 2027.
In a video posted on X, the 66-year-old senator said her decision is “not political” but based on a desire to “spend more time with [her] family.” Smith has served in the Senate since 2018 after she won a special election to replace former Sen. Al Franken, who resigned following sexual misconduct allegations against him. Before her time in the Senate, Smith was Minnesota’s lieutenant governor from 2015 to 2018, and prior to that stint, she worked as an executive at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota.
“This decision is not political,” Smith said. “It is entirely personal, but it’s not lost on me that our country is in need of strong progressive leadership, right now maybe…
