Tina Smith | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| United States Senator fromMinnesota | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2018 Serving with Amy Klobuchar | |
| Preceded by | Al Franken |
| 48thLieutenant Governor of Minnesota | |
| In office January 5, 2015 – January 2, 2018 | |
| Governor | Mark Dayton |
| Preceded by | Yvonne Prettner Solon |
| Succeeded by | Michelle Fischbach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christine Elizabeth Flint (1958-03-04)March 4, 1958 (age 67) Albuquerque,New Mexico, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic (DFL) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) Dartmouth College (MBA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website Campaign website |
Christine Elizabeth Smith (néeFlint, born March 4, 1958)[1] is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as thejuniorUnited States senator fromMinnesota since 2018. She is a member of theMinnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of theDemocratic Party.
Born inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, Smith moved to Minnesota in the 1980s to work forGeneral Mills and later became the vice president ofPlanned Parenthood of Minnesota. She then began a career as a political consultant and organizer for local Democratic candidates. Smith managedWalter Mondale's unsuccessful last-minute campaign in the2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota after incumbent senatorPaul Wellstone died in a plane crash 11 days before the election.[2]
After Mondale lost, Smith served as chief of staff toMayor of MinneapolisR. T. Rybak. She then helped runMark Dayton's successful campaign forGovernor of Minnesota in 2010. After his victory, Dayton named Smith his chief of staff. Later, for Dayton's reelection campaign in the2014 election, Smith was named as Dayton's pick forlieutenant governor.[3] After winning her first election to public office, Smith served from 2015 to 2018 as Minnesota's 48th lieutenant governor. Dayton then appointed her to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated byAl Franken's resignation in 2018. She won the2018 special election and was elected to a full term in2020.[4]
On February 13, 2025, Smith announced that she will not run for reelection in2026.[5]
Smith was born on March 4, 1958,[6] inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, the daughter of Christine, a teacher, and F. Harlan Flint, a lawyer.[7] She mostly grew up inSanta Fe, New Mexico, attending Manderfield and Acequia Madre Elementary.[8] She finished high school atRedwood High School inLarkspur, California.[7][9]
Before going to college, Smith worked on theTrans-Alaska Pipeline inPrudhoe Bay,Alaska. She graduated fromStanford University with aBachelor of Arts degree inpolitical science, and later earned aMaster of Business Administration from theTuck School of Business atDartmouth College.[10]
In 1984, Smith moved toMinnesota for a marketing job atGeneral Mills.[11] She later started her own marketing firm, where she consulted with businesses andnonprofits.[12]
In the early 1990s, Smith became involved in local politics, volunteering forDFL campaigns inMinneapolis.[13] She managedTed Mondale's unsuccessful1998 campaign for governor. After Minnesota'sU.S. SenatorPaul Wellstone died in aplane crash weeks before the 2002 election, Smith managed former U.S.Vice PresidentWalter Mondale's campaign for the seat.[14] After Mondale lost a narrowelection toNorm Coleman, Smith began working as the vice president of external affairs atPlanned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.[15]
In 2006, Smith left her job at Planned Parenthood to serve as chief of staff toMinneapolisMayorR.T. Rybak.[16] In 2010, she was picked to manage Rybak'sgubernatorial campaign, which ended afterMargaret Anderson Kelliher won the DFL endorsement.[14] Smith then joined the campaign ofMark Dayton, who skipped the endorsing convention and eventually won the DFLprimary.[13] After Dayton defeated RepublicanTom Emmer in thegeneral election, Smith was named a co-chair of the transition. When Dayton took office in January 2011, he appointed Smith as his chief of staff.[17]
When Lieutenant GovernorYvonne Prettner Solon announced she would not seek reelection, Dayton selected Smith as his running mate in the2014 gubernatorial election. He cited Smith's work on passing legislation for the newMinnesota Vikings Stadium, as well as her support for the Destination Medical Center project with theMayo Clinic inRochester.[17]
Smith stepped down as Dayton's chief of staff to campaign for lieutenant governor. After being nominated by acclamation at theDFL state convention, and facing only token opposition in the DFL gubernatorial primary, Dayton and Smith defeated RepublicansJeff Johnson andBill Kuisle in thegeneral election.[18]
Smith took office as lieutenant governor on January 5, 2015, and served until she was appointed to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate on January 2, 2018.[19] During her tenure, Smith was described by many political observers as having a much higher profile and playing a much more significant role in legislative negotiations than her predecessors.[11][20] She spent a significant amount of time traveling the state in support of the priorities of Dayton's administration, including funding for optional preschool for all four-year-olds, transportation infrastructure, and rural broadband internet access. She also served as chair of the Destination Medical Center board until her resignation in December 2017.[21][22]
In 2016,Roll Call named Smith to its "America's Top 25 Most Influential Women in State Politics" list, citing her high-profile role in the Dayton administration.[23]
Despite widespread speculation to the contrary, Smith announced in March 2017 that she would not run for governor in the2018 election.[24][25]
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On December 13, 2017, Governor Dayton announced Smith as his pick to fill theUnited States Senate seat held byAl Franken, who had announced he would resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct.[26][27] Democrats in the state immediately united around Smith as the party's candidate in theNovember 2018 special election to fill Franken's term.[28] Franken resigned on January 2, 2018.[29][30]
In August 2018, Smith won theMinnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party primary with 76% of the vote.Richard Painter, a White House ethics lawyer during theGeorge W. Bush administration, finished second with 14%.[31][32]
In the November general election, Smith defeatedRepublican nomineeKarin Housley, astate senator fromSt. Marys Point, with 53% of the vote to Housley's 42%.[33][34]
Minnesota was seen as a swing state in the2020 presidential election, which made Smith a swing-state Democrat up for reelection. Her campaign focused on delivering results for Minnesotans on local issues, such as farming in southern Minnesota, police brutality in wake of theGeorge Floyd protests, and North Shore drilling in theDuluth area, and took strong positions on national issues such as theAmy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination. Smith defeated Republican nomineeJason Lewis with 48.8% of the vote to Lewis's 43.5%, thus winning her first full six-year Senate term.[35]
WithVice PresidentMike Pence administering theoath of office, Smith was officially sworn in as a U.S. Senator on January 3, 2018,[36] alongsideDoug Jones ofAlabama. She was accompanied by fellow Minnesota SenatorAmy Klobuchar and formerVice President and former Minnesota SenatorWalter Mondale.[37]
Smith was participating in the certification of the2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6, 2021, when Trump supportersstormed the United States Capitol. She called the participants in the attack "seditionists" and blamed Trump for inciting the attack. When the Capitol was secure and the Congress returned to session, Smith supported the certification of the count.[38] In response to the insurrection, she called for Trump's immediate removal from office through the invocation of theTwenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and impeachment, saying that the president needed to be held accountable for the attack and that "he is dangerous to our democracy and to public safety."[39][40] She said that RepresentativesMichelle Fischbach andJim Hagedorn, who objected to certifying the election, "were complicit in pushing for the president'sbig lie",[39] and also called on SenatorsTed Cruz andJosh Hawley to resign for objecting to the certification of the election and spreading falsehoods about election integrity.[41]
On January 31, 2024, Smith sent a one-minute video to theWashington Press Club Foundation's annual congressional dinner, "roasting"U.S. RepresentativeDean Phillips over hiscampaign in the2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries to challenge PresidentJoe Biden for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.[42][43]
Smith previously served on theCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources from January 10, 2018, to January 3, 2019, during the first session of the116th Congress.
Smith supportsabortion rights. She was a vice president atPlanned Parenthood from 2003 to 2006, where she lobbied against efforts to restrictabortion.[51][52]
In February 2019, Smith voted against theBorn-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, saying that the bill "would override physicians' professional judgment about what is best for their patients" and "put physicians in the position of facing criminal penalties if their judgment about what is best for their patient is contrary to what is described in this bill."[53]
On May 2, 2022, just afterPolitico obtained and released a 98-pageU.S. Supreme Court draft opinion striking downRoe v. Wade, Smith responded in a tweet, "This is bullshit."[54] After the Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade on June 24, Senators Smith andElizabeth Warren wrote aNew York Times op-ed calling on PresidentJoe Biden to unblock "critical resources and authority that states and the federal government can use to meet the surge in demand for reproductive health services."[55] On April 2, 2024, Smith published an essay, "I Hope to Repeal an Arcane Law That Could Be Misused to Ban Abortion Nationwide", inThe New York Times.[56]
In March 2019, Smith was one of 38 senators to sign a letter toSecretary of AgricultureSonny Perdue warning that dairy farmers "have continued to face market instability and are struggling to survive the fourth year of sustained low prices" and urging his department to "strongly encourage these farmers to consider the Dairy Margin Coverage program."[57]
In November 2018, Smith was one of 25 Democratic senators to have cosponsored a resolution in response to findings of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report andNational Climate Assessment. The resolution affirmed the senators' acceptance of the findings and their support for bold action toaddress climate change.[58]
Smith was a member of the Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, which published a report of its findings in August 2020.[59]
In a 2021 letter, Smith and four colleagues wrote toMeta CEOMark Zuckerberg to criticize the company'sDiem digital currency project. In the letter, they argued that "stablecoins in general" are "incompatible with the actual financial regulatory landscape."[60] In 2022, Smith andElizabeth Warren wrote toFidelity Investments CEOAbigail Johnson to object to a plan to allow for the inclusion of Bitcoin in their401(k)s.[61]
In December 2018, Smith was one of 21 senators to sign a letter toFood and Drugs CommissionerScott Gottlieb stating their approval of theFood and Drug Administration's actions to hinder youth access toe-cigarettes and urging theFDA "to take additional, stronger steps to prevent and reduce e-cigarette use among youth."[62]
In July 2020, Smith introduced the Substance Regulation and Safety Act tolegalize cannabis at the federal level and direct federal agencies to develop various regulations regarding cannabis.[63] During a floor speech on racial justice, she called for passage of the bill along with theMarijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to end the "failed policy" ofcannabis prohibition that "contributes tomass incarceration and over-policing of communities of color".[64]
In April 2019, Smith and 33 other senators signed a letter to PresidentDonald Trump asserting that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance" since becoming president and that by preventing the use of Fiscal Year 2018 national security funding he was "personally undermining efforts to promote U.S. national security and economic prosperity". The senators argued that foreign assistance to Central American countries decreased migration to the U.S. by helping to improve conditions in those countries.[65]
In March 2024, Smith urged the Biden administration torecognize a "nonmilitarized"Palestinian state after the end of theGaza war.[66] In November 2024, Smith was one of 19 senators to vote to halt the United States' arms sales to Israel.[67] In April 2025, Smith voted for a pair of resolutions proposed by SenatorBernie Sanders to cancel theTrump's administration's sales of $8.8 billion in bombs and other munitions to Israel. The proposals were defeated, 82 to 15.[68]
In March 2018, Smith and nine other senators signed a letter toSenate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee chairmanLamar Alexander and ranking DemocratPatty Murray requesting they schedule a hearing on the causes and remedies of mass shootings in the wake of theStoneman Douglas High School shooting.[69]
In the lead-up to the 2018 elections, Smith said her record in the Senate showed she would fight pharmaceutical companies to improve people's lives, and that she would continue to fight to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs in Minnesota, for example by making generic drugs more available, preventing people with preexisting conditions from being charged more, and allowing Minnesotans to buy in to Medicare if they are dissatisfied with their options on the insurance market.[70] Smith has endorsedsingle-payer healthcare.[71]
In December 2018, Smith and 41 other senators signed a letter to Trump administration officialsAlex Azar,Seema Verma, andSteve Mnuchin arguing that the administration was improperly using Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to authorize states to "increase health care costs for millions of consumers while weakening protections for individuals with preexisting conditions." The senators requested the administration withdraw the policy and "re-engage with stakeholders, states, and Congress."[72]
In January 2019, during the2018–19 United States federal government shutdown, Smith and 33 other senators signed a letter to Commissioner of Food and DrugsScott Gottlieb recognizing the efforts of the FDA to address the shutdown's effect on public health and employees while remaining alarmed "that the continued shutdown will result in increasingly harmful effects on the agency's employees and the safety and security of the nation's food and medical products."[73]
In February 2019, Smith and ten other senators signed a letter to insulin manufacturersEli Lilly and Company,Novo Nordisk, andSanofi about their increased insulin prices, which had deprived patients of "access to the life-saving medications they need."[74]
In April 2019, Smith and 40 other senators signed a bipartisan letter to the housing subcommittee praising theHousing and Urban Development Department's Section 4 Capacity Building program as authorizing "HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country" and expressing disappointment that President Trump's budget "has slated this program for elimination after decades of successful economic and community development." The senators wrote of their hope that the subcommittee would support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020.[75]
In June 2019, Smith was one of eight senators to sponsor theMade in America Act, legislation that would designate federal programs that had funded infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards and mandate that the materials used in these programs be domestically produced. Bill cosponsorTammy Baldwin said the bill would strengthen Buy America requirements and that she was hopeful both Democrats and Republicans would support "this effort to make sure our government is buying American products and supporting American workers."[76]
In August 2018, Smith was one of 17 senators to sign a letter spearheaded byKamala Harris toHomeland Security SecretaryKirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."[77]
In July 2019, following reports that the Trump administration intended to cease protecting spouses, parents and children of active-duty service members from deportation, Smith was one of 22 senators led byTammy Duckworth to sign a letter arguing that the protection gave service members the ability "to fight for the United States overseas and not worry that their spouse, children, or parents will be deported while they are away" and that its termination would both cause service members personal hardship and negatively affect their combat performance.[78]
In October 2018, Smith and 19 other senators signed a letter toU.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo urging him to reverse the rolling back of a policy that granted visas to same-sex partners of LGBTQ diplomats who had unions that were not recognized by their home countries, writing that too many places around the world have seen LGBTQ individuals "subjected to discrimination and unspeakable violence, and receive little or no protection from the law or local authorities" and that refusing to let LGBTQ diplomats bring their partners to the US would be equivalent of upholding "the discriminatory policies of many countries around the world."[79]
In June 2019, Smith and nine other senators cosponsored the Safe Freight Act, a bill that would require freight trains to have one or more certified conductors and a certified engineer on board who can collaborate on how to protect the train and people living near the tracks. The legislation was meant to correct aFederal Railroad Administration rollback of a proposed rule intended to establish safety standards.[80]
Smith's husband, Archie Smith, is an independent investor, focusing largely on health care and medical companies.[81] The couple have two sons.[82]
In May 2019, during a speech on the Senate floor, Smith described her experiences with getting help in college and in her early 30s fordepression.[83]
On July 16, 2025, feeling ill, Smith was hospitalized and kept overnight for observation.[84]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Mark Dayton/Tina Smith | 177,849 | 92.99 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Leslie Davis/Gregor Soderberg | 8,530 | 4.46 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Bill Dahn/James Vigliotti | 4,880 | 2.55 | |
| Total votes | 191,259 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Mark Dayton/Tina Smith (incumbent) | 989,113 | 50.07% | +6.44% | |
| Republican | Jeff Johnson/Bill Kuisle | 879,257 | 44.51% | +1.30% | |
| Independence | Hannah Nicollet/Tim Gieseke | 56,900 | 2.88% | −9.06% | |
| Grassroots | Chris Wright/David Daniels | 31,259 | 1.58% | +1.22% | |
| Libertarian | Chris Holbrook/Chris Dock | 18,082 | 0.92% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 795 | 0.04% | -0.05% | ||
| Total votes | 1,975,406 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratic (DFL)hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Tina Smith (incumbent) | 433,705 | 76.06% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Richard Painter | 78,193 | 13.71% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Ali Chehem Ali | 18,897 | 3.31% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Gregg Iverson | 17,825 | 3.13% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Nick Leonard | 16,529 | 2.90% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Christopher Seymore | 5,041 | 0.88% | |
| Total votes | 570,190 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Tina Smith (incumbent) | 1,370,540 | 52.97% | −0.18% | |
| Republican | Karin Housley | 1,095,777 | 42.35% | −0.56% | |
| Legal Marijuana Now | Sarah Wellington | 95,614 | 3.70% | N/A | |
| Independent | Jerry Trooien | 24,324 | 0.94% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 1,101 | 0.04% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 2,587,356 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratic (DFL)hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Tina Smith (incumbent) | 497,498 | 87.1% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Paula Overby | 30,497 | 5.3% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Ahmad Hassan | 20,037 | 3.5% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Steve Carlson | 16,429 | 2.9% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Christopher Seymore | 6,480 | 1.1% | |
| Total votes | 570,941 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Tina Smith (incumbent) | 1,566,522 | 48.74% | −4.23% | |
| Republican | Jason Lewis | 1,398,145 | 43.50% | +1.15% | |
| Legal Marijuana Now | Kevin O'Connor | 190,154 | 5.91% | +2.21% | |
| Grassroots | Oliver Steinberg | 57,174 | 1.78% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 2,261 | 0.07% | +0.03% | ||
| Total votes | 3,214,256 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratic (DFL)hold | |||||
Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, one of the state's highest-ranking female elected officials and a close adviser to Gov. Mark Dayton, will not run for governor in 2018
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forLieutenant Governor of Minnesota 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Al Franken | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMinnesota (Class 2) 2018,2020 | Most recent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota 2015–2018 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Minnesota 2018–present Served alongside:Amy Klobuchar | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as United States Senator | Succeeded by |
| United States senators by seniority 63rd | ||
Statewide elected officials and legislative leaders ofMinnesota | ||
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