The Latest: Dayton pressured on Franken appointment

[flamingdem]

http://www.startribune.com/the-latest-dayton-pressured-on-franken-appointment/462854503/


ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Latest on the fallout from Minnesota Sen. Al Franken's plans to resign following allegations of sexual harassment (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

Two Democrats tell The Associated Press that Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is coming under pressure from party leaders to appoint more than a placeholder to fill Sen. Al Franken's seat until a special election next year.

Dayton initially planned to name his lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to the post following Franken's Thursday announcement that he will resign. Smith would have served just until a 2018 special election.

But a Democratic official familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press that Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has pressured Dayton to name a replacement who will also run for re-election next year to serve the remainder of Franken's term, which runs through 2020.

The official and a separate Democratic operative said Friday that Smith is now considering a possible run herself. Neither Democrat was authorized to discuss the conditions before Dayton's announcement.

Richard Painter's take:

Link to tweet

[FarPoint]

1. Nothing positive will result from this impulsive forced resignation of Franken...

Bad Omen....no due process, no plan, no preparation....Bet a dime the GOP already planned who will go into the seat for them in 2018....see..this was a bait and destroy mission by the GOP...and they took bait...

[dalton99a]

2. The law of unintended consequences is kicking in

[FarPoint]

3. Yes it is inevitable...

Poor, poor thinking skills on this travesty.

[FarCenter]

4. History from 1978. Unclear whether Minnesotans will tolerate appointees better than then.

In 1978, all three key statewide races in Minnesota were up for election—the Governorship, and both Senate Seats (the other Senate seat belonged to Hubert Humphrey, who died in 1978). But, there was a particular oddity to the three races—all three had incumbents who were never elected to the office in the first place. This became a well played issue by the Republicans—a billboard put up across the state read, "The DFL is going to face something scary -- an election".

When Walter Mondale ascended to the Vice Presidency in 1976, sitting Governor Wendell Anderson appointed himself to the open seat. This act did not sit well with the electorate. Plywood magnate Rudy Boschwitz campaigned as a liberal Republican and spent freely of his own money, but all that seemed to really matter was that he was neither a DFLer or Wendell Anderson in an election cycle where both were rejected by the voters. The end result was not even close—the challenger Boschwitz won in a 16-point landslide as all three statewide offices switched into Republican hands

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_special_election_in_Minnesota,_1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Minnesota,_1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_gubernatorial_election,_1978