Rep. Angie Craig 'giving serious consideration' to running for Minnesota Senate seat

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) said she is “giving serious consideration” to running for a Minnesota Senate seat.

“I am giving serious consideration to the open Senate seat in Minnesota,” Craig said in a post on the social platform X Monday. “I’ll be talking to Minnesotans in the weeks ahead about the best way to continue to serve my community and will make a decision in the near future.”

Last Thursday, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith (D) announced that she is not going to run for reelection in two years. In a video on X, Smith said she has “loved” her role as a member of the upper chamber of Congress, but desired more time with family.

“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,” Smith said on X. “Thank you so much, Minnesota.”

Smith has been in her current seat since 2018, as she was appointed to follow former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) in the wake of his resignation amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

In 2016, President Trump lost Minnesota by around 1.5 points. In the last election, the president lost the state by 4 points.

Craig was one of the earliest Democrats to call on former President Biden to step out of the 2024 presidential race following a rough June debate performance from the former president.

“Given what I saw and heard from the President during last week’s debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against [former President] Donald Trump,” the Minnesota Democrat said in a statement from July.