Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her working mate on Tuesday, a call that would usher in a brand new period of management within the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would develop into Minnesota’s new chief govt ought to the Harris-Walz ticket prevail in November, an ascension that may make her the primary lady to guide the state. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would even be the primary Native American lady to function governor of any state. It doesn’t matter what, although, this workplace will subsequent be on the poll in 2026 for a full four-year time period.
Walz, writes KARE 11’s Jeremiah Jacobsen, can be the state’s first governor to resign since 1976, when Sen. Walter Mondale’s election as Jimmy Carter’s vice chairman set off a risky chain of occasions again house that proved disastrous for Democrats.
Following Mondale’s departure for Washington, Democratic Gov. Wendell Anderson stepped down from his submit and organized for his lieutenant governor, Rudy Perpich, to nominate him to Mondale’s Senate seat. These insider dealings, nevertheless, backfired with voters, resulting in the “Minnesota massacre” of 1978: Republican Rudy Boschwitz trounced Anderson within the race for Senate whereas Republican Al Quie unseated Perpich as governor.
Walz’s succession can be a far easier affair, however there’s additionally the matter of who would change Flanagan in her present function. State constitutional legislation skilled Quinn Yeargain explains in Assured Republics that the subsequent individual in line to develop into lieutenant governor is the president of the state Senate, a submit that is held by Democrat Bobby Joe Champion. Ought to Champion succeed Flanagan, he, too, would make historical past, because the first Black individual to function Minnesota’s lieutenant governor.
There is a potential hitch, although. The 67-member Senate is at present tied as a result of Democratic state Sen. Kelly Morrison, who’s the favourite to interchange retiring Rep. Dean Phillips in Congress, resigned in July so {that a} particular election may very well be held concurrently with the November normal election. The remainder of the Senate, nevertheless, is not up for election once more till 2026, so this one race will decide who controls the higher chamber subsequent 12 months.
Happily for Democrats, Morrison’s forty fifth District, which relies within the Minneapolis suburbs, shall be robust for the GOP to flip, particularly now that Walz is on the nationwide ticket. This constituency supported Joe Biden by a 57-41 margin in 2020, in line with VEST information from Dave’s Redistricting App, whereas the Walz-Flanagan crew scored an an identical win two years later. Three Democrats are competing within the Aug. 13 main; the winner will face Republican Kathleen Fowke, who misplaced to Morrison 56-44 in 2022.
However even when Republicans had been to tug off an upset on this particular election on the similar time Harris and Walz prevail within the Electoral School, Yeargain writes that it is potential that Walz might time his resignation to make sure that Champion nonetheless turns into lieutenant governor.
That will be a much better consequence for Democrats than the final time the quantity two slot grew to become vacant. When then-Gov. Mark Dayton chosen Lt. Gov Tina Smith to fill Al Franken’s Senate seat after he resigned in early 2018, the GOP had management of the state Senate. Consequently, Republican Michelle Fischbach was elevated to the lieutenant governorship and served for a 12 months earlier than waging a profitable bid for Congress in 2020.
Trying forward, as a result of Minnesota doesn’t have time period limits, whoever is governor—whether or not that is Walz or Flanagan—will be capable to run in 2026. Voters, nevertheless, have by no means awarded an incumbent three consecutive phrases. The final to strive was Perpich, who staged a profitable comeback in 1982 and gained two full phrases. However when he sought a 3rd straight in 1990, he misplaced an in depth and chaotic battle to Republican Arne Carlson.
Republican Tim Pawlenty tried to win a 3rd non-consecutive time period in 2018, practically a decade after retiring to arrange for what can be a doomed presidential marketing campaign. However main voters handed him over in favor of Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, who went on to badly lose the overall election to none apart from Walz.
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