It seems unusual after 1 full term. Ilon and Walz want to fill the slot. She has 2 years left to serve.

Walz is definitely not loving his life right now. He suffered a humiliating defeat on the national stage and came back to a divided legislature. His LG was staffing up and measuring the drapes in the mansion for her move up to his office. They have rarely been seen together since.

The MN GOP really needs to not piss away this opportunity. Statewide seats are tough to win for Rs in MN simply due to the Metro population advantage. With that in mind, this is not the time to run candidates that would appeal to the hard core loud voices in the party. Someone that would seem like a great choice to them, to me or to most Sigforum members is not going to win. Sad to say, the only chance here is to run a squishy Romney type. It's not great, but a win is better than a loss. Get your foot in the door and then adjust as needed.

MNSIG have you heard why she's bailing out? Someone needs to run as a very middle-of-the-road guy to get elected there. However, once elected he has to stay coherent to the president's agenda,
quietly.

She has given the standard stock answer: "Spend more time with my family". Maybe that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's feeling party pressure behind the scenes.

Senators only require 5 years of service and be over 62 years old to receive their Federal Retirement.

After further research, it seems a Senator with one term of service in the Senate will only get about 9% of the their annual Salary as retirement. So it's not because she can live off her Federal Pension.

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
MNSIG have you heard why she's bailing out?

She will be 68 yo in 2026, which is not terribly old if she is in good health. She may find being in the minority in the senate is not a fun gig, but if she is popular, she can be at the top of the food chain in politics for life. Interestingly the governor's seat is up for grabs in 2026, maybe she feels she can win that one if Walz is done, and be a big fish in a smaller pond.

I follow politics pretty closely, but I confess I had no idea who she was until she announced her retirement.
A total nonentity except as a vote for whatever Schumer wants.