Tina Smith

Details

Party Affiliation

Democratic

In Office Since

Jan 1, 2018

Organization

United States Federal Government

Biography

Christine Elizabeth "Tina" Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2018. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the national Democratic Party, she served from 2015 to 2018 as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota under Governor Mark Dayton. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Smith moved to Minnesota in the 1980s to work for General Mills and later became the vice president of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota. She then began a career as a political consultant and organizer for local Democratic candidates. Smith managed Walter Mondale's unsuccessful last-minute campaign in the 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota after incumbent senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash 11 days before the election. After Mondale lost the Senate election, Smith served as chief of staff to Mayor of Minneapolis R. T. Rybak. She then helped run Dayton's successful campaign for Governor of Minnesota in 2010. After his victory, Dayton named Smith his chief of staff. Later, for Dayton's reelection campaign in the 2014 election, Smith was named as Dayton's pick for lieutenant governor. 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 by Al Franken's resignation in 2018. She won the 2018 special election and was elected to a full term in 2020. On February 13, 2025, Smith announced that she will not run for reelection in 2026.

From the English Wikipedia article “Tina Smith”, available under CC BY-SA.