In her video, Smith notes that while she enjoyed the role, she is "ready to spend more time with my family," adding that her grandchildren and children have moved to Minneapolis and that her father is turning 95 years old this summer. "This decision is not political, it is entirely personal. But it's not lost on me that our country is in need of strong progressive leadership right now, maybe more than ever," she said. Smith, 66, was first appointed to the Senate in 2017 to fill the vacancy left by then-Democratic Sen. Al Franken's resignation in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. Smith won a special election the following year and then another election in 2020 to serve a full six year term. She has been a longtime fixture in Minnesota politics since well before she joined the Senate, serving as the state's lieutenant governor and, before that, as a top aide to key Democratic politicians.
In a social media post on Thursday, Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, said she has "decided not to run for reelection to the Senate in 2026." "This job has been the honor of a lifetime. For the rest of my term, I’ll work as hard as I can for Minnesotans and our country. Thank you so much, Minnesota," she shared on social media. In a video she shared (watch it above), she said that after 20 years in the public sector, she's ready to spend more time with her family. When she came to the Senate in 2018, she didn't have any grandchildren, and now she has four. Her family all lives in the Minneapolis area, and she wants to spend time with them at home. "This decision is not political. It's entirely personal," Smith said.
Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said she will not seek reelection for a second term in a shock announcement Thursday. Smith, who was elected to the Senate in 2018, is the second Democratic incumbent to announce retirement since Republicans retook Senate control in January. Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who was likely to face a tough reelection contest, announced his retirement on Jan. 28. Smith alluded to senators staying well past their “retirement age” as partly contributing to her decision to not seek reelection. “As much as I love my work, I’m fortunate enough to be able to say that my work is only part of what makes up my life,” Smith wrote in an op-ed in the Minnesota Star-Tribune Thursday. “And after two decades of hard, rewarding work in public service, I’m ready to prioritize other things — starting with my family.”
