# Tina Smith *United States senator from Minnesota (2018–present); former Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota (2015–2018)* Christine Elizabeth "Tina" Smith (née Flint; born March 4, 1958) has represented Minnesota in the [[United States Senate]] since January 2018. She is a member of the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] (DFL), the state affiliate of the [[Democratic Party (United States)]].[^1][^2] Governor [[Mark Dayton]], a DFL Democrat, appointed her to the seat vacated by Al Franken. Before that she was Minnesota's 48th [[Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota]] from 2015 to 2018, serving under Dayton.[^1][^3] Smith won the November 2018 special election and a full six-year term in 2020.[^1] On February 13, 2025, she announced that she would not seek reelection in 2026. The Star Tribune, CBS News Minnesota and the Minnesota Reformer later reported her endorsement of Peggy Flanagan for the seat.[^1][^4][^5][^6] Two further entries name her. One is a federal earmark listed on a Senate office's congressionally directed spending page. The other is a 2023 tracker article about her stock trading. Both are set out below with the limits of their sources stated.[^7][^8] ## Early life and education Smith was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 4, 1958. She spent most of her childhood in Santa Fe and completed high school at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California.[^1] Before college she worked on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline at Prudhoe Bay. She holds a political science B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.[^1] ## Early career A General Mills marketing position brought Smith to Minnesota in 1984. She later founded a marketing firm that advised businesses and nonprofits.[^1] From the early 1990s she volunteered on DFL campaigns in [[Minneapolis]]. She managed Ted Mondale's losing 1998 run for governor. Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash weeks before the 2002 election, and Smith then ran former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]]'s campaign for the seat, which Norm Coleman won narrowly.[^1] She next became vice president of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. She left that post in 2006 to become chief of staff to Minneapolis Mayor [[R. T. Rybak]].[^1] In 2010 she managed Rybak's campaign for governor, which ended when Margaret Anderson Kelliher won the DFL endorsement. Smith then joined Dayton's campaign for [[Governor of Minnesota]]. Dayton skipped the endorsing convention, won the DFL primary, and defeated Republican [[Tom Emmer]] in November. Smith co-chaired the transition and became Dayton's chief of staff when he took office in January 2011.[^1] ## Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Lieutenant Governor [[Yvonne Prettner Solon]] did not seek another term, and Dayton chose Smith as his 2014 running mate. He pointed to her part in passing the Minnesota Vikings stadium legislation and her backing of the [[Destination Medical Center]] project with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.[^1] Smith left the chief-of-staff post to campaign. The DFL state convention nominated the ticket by acclamation, and Dayton and Smith defeated Republicans Jeff Johnson and Bill Kuisle in the general election.[^1] Smith held the office from January 5, 2015, until her Senate appointment on January 2, 2018. She travelled the state to promote administration priorities, including optional preschool for all four-year-olds, transportation infrastructure and rural broadband. She chaired the Destination Medical Center board until she resigned from it in December 2017.[^1] Roll Call placed her on its 2016 list *America's Top 25 Most Influential Women in State Politics*. In March 2017 she said she would not run for governor in 2018.[^1] ## U.S. Senate ### Appointment On December 13, 2017, Dayton named Smith as his choice for the Senate seat of Al Franken, who had said he would resign.[^3][^9] Franken left the Senate on January 2, 2018. The next day, January 3, Vice President Mike Pence swore Smith in alongside Doug Jones of Alabama. Senator [[Amy Klobuchar]] and Walter Mondale accompanied her.[^1] ### Elections Fox 9 (KMSP) reported that Klobuchar and Smith received the DFL endorsement at the party's convention.[^10] In the August 2018 DFL primary Smith won 76 percent of the vote. Richard Painter, a White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, placed second with 14 percent.[^1] In the November special election she defeated the Republican nominee, state senator [[Karin Housley]] of St. Marys Point, by 53 percent to 42 percent.[^1] In 2020 Minnesota was viewed as a presidential swing state. Smith's campaign emphasized farming in southern Minnesota, police brutality after the George Floyd protests, and North Shore drilling near Duluth. She also took positions on the [[Amy Coney Barrett]] Supreme Court nomination. She defeated Republican Jason Lewis by 48.8 percent to 43.5 percent, winning her first full term.[^1] ### 2026 retirement and succession On February 13, 2025, Smith announced that she would not be a candidate in 2026.[^1] The Star Tribune, CBS News Minnesota and the Minnesota Reformer each reported that she endorsed Peggy Flanagan for the seat. The Reformer framed the endorsement as backing Flanagan to take the seat after Smith's retirement.[^4][^5][^6] ## Political positions ### Abortion Smith supports abortion rights. As a Planned Parenthood vice president from 2003 to 2006, she lobbied against abortion restrictions.[^1] In February 2019 she voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, saying it "would override physicians' professional judgment about what is best for their patients."[^1] The Supreme Court overturned *Roe v. Wade* on June 24, 2022. Afterward, Smith and Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a [[New York Times]] op-ed urging President Joe Biden to release federal resources to meet demand for reproductive health services. On April 2, 2024, she published a Times essay titled *I Hope to Repeal an Arcane Law That Could Be Misused to Ban Abortion Nationwide*.[^1] ### Agriculture and climate In March 2019 Smith was among 38 senators who wrote to [[Secretary of Agriculture]] Sonny Perdue about dairy farmers' fourth year of low prices. The letter urged the department to encourage farmers to use the Dairy Margin Coverage program.[^1] In November 2018 she was among 25 Democratic senators who cosponsored a resolution responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and the National Climate Assessment.[^1] ## Other entries in the record ### Congressionally directed spending Senator Klobuchar's congressionally directed spending page is the source for a HUD CPF earmark to Phumulani Minnesota African Women Against Violence. The earmark carries FAIN B-24-CP-MN-1243, is for about $607,000, and is recorded as sponsored by Klobuchar and Smith.[^7] The project's claim:link catalogue files this entry among pairs gathered under a Title VI theory. The record here contains no complaint, finding or audit concerning the award, and it does not establish the award's use or outcome. ### Capitol Trades article On November 29, 2023, Capitol Trades published an article titled *Senator Tina Smith's stock controversy: insider trading concerns*.[^8] The record reviewed here does not set out which trades the article discusses. It contains no filing, ethics finding or enforcement action, and does not establish that any violation occurred. ## Personal life Smith is married to Archie Smith, an independent investor who focuses largely on health-care and medical companies; they have two sons.[^1] In a May 2019 Senate floor speech she spoke about seeking help for depression in college and again in her early thirties.[^1] She fell ill on July 16, 2025, and was hospitalized overnight for observation. She received the Joan and Walter Mondale Award for Public Service at the 2026 Humphrey-Mondale Awards.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Tina Smith* (revision 1379605404, retrieved 2026-10-25) — biography, offices, elections, positions and personal life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Smith [^2]: Office of Senator Tina Smith, *Biography* (official U.S. Senate page) — official biography of Minnesota's junior U.S. senator. https://www.smith.senate.gov/about-tina/biography/ [^3]: NPR, *Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith Will Replace Al Franken in U.S. Senate* (2017-12-13) — Dayton's announcement of the appointment. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/13/570476131/minnesota-lt-gov-tina-smith-will-replace-al-franken-in-u-s-senate [^4]: Star Tribune, *Tina Smith endorses Peggy Flanagan in race for US Senate* — report of the endorsement. https://www.startribune.com/tina-smith-endorses-peggy-flanagan-in-race-for-us-senate/601575396 [^5]: CBS News Minnesota, *Tina Smith endorses Peggy Flanagan* — report of the endorsement following Smith's retirement announcement. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/tina-smith-endorses-peggy-flanagan-retirement-senate/ [^6]: Minnesota Reformer, *Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith endorses Peggy Flanagan to assume her seat after retirement* — report of the endorsement. https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/minnesota-sen-tina-smith-endorses-peggy-flanagan-to-assume-her-seat-after-retirement/ [^7]: Office of Senator Amy Klobuchar, *Congressionally Directed Spending Requests* — listing of the HUD CPF earmark FAIN B-24-CP-MN-1243 (~$607K), Klobuchar/Smith sponsored. https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/congressionallydirectedspendingrequests [^8]: Capitol Trades, *Senator Tina Smith's stock controversy: insider trading concerns* (2023-11-29) — existence and date of the tracker article. https://www.capitoltrades.com/articles/senator-tina-smith-s-stock-controversy-insider-trading-concerns-2023-11-29 [^9]: NBC News, *MN Lt. Gov. Tina Smith appointed* (2017) — report of the appointment to Franken's seat. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/minnesota-lt-gov-tina-smith-appointed-franken-s-senate-seat-n829376 [^10]: Fox 9 / KMSP, *Klobuchar, Smith receive DFL endorsement at convention* — report of the DFL convention endorsement. http://www.fox9.com/news/klobuchar-smith-receive-dfl-endorsement-at-convention