Weird stuff going on with regards to MN Lt Governor.
When Smith quits to become a Senator the State Senate President Michelle Fischbach (R) automatically ascends to the office. She wants to keep her Senate seat, the state AG thinks she would have to resign it and potential court fight looms.
Republicans have a 1 seat majority in the State Senate, a vacancy would create a temporary tie and Republicans don’t that, though the seat appears safe to me, just outside St. Cloud.
Republican have offered to hold a special session to elect a Rat President who would then ascend but the rat Senate leader has rejected the idea. Apparently Fischbach can’t just quit as Senate President, I guess.
Fischbach has said if forced to resign her Senate seat she’d run in the special for her vacant seat and quit as LT if she won.
Dayton has had health problems if I recall, it would be nice to have a GOP LT.
Best case is Fischbach wins in court and can keep both jobs. If not I think she should suck it up and keep the post, we shouldn’t have trouble holding her seat. It would be poetic justice if Dayton croaks after filthy democrats rejected their chance to keep the office.
That’s like what happened in SC, and the fast turnover in the job when Ken Ard was forced to retire and then Glenn McConnell left to become a University President. The fella next in line (Republican John Courson) did not want to become Lt Governor and give up his Senate seat, so he stepped down as President Pro Tempore and elected a guy who was fine with doing that, a Conservative Democrat named Yancey McGill, getting the job unopposed, and McGill served until the office came up for reelection, but didn’t run for it. He switched parties in 2016 and is now challenging Henry McMaster for Governor in the primary.
Curiously, it happened once again earlier this year when 86-year old GOP Senate PPT Hugh Leatherman did not want to succeed McMaster as Lt Governor when he succeeded Nikki Haley, resigned his job for a day, allowed the body to elect Kevin Bryant, who then became LG, and then they reelected Leatherman to his PPT post again. Like McGill, he is also running against McMaster for Governor this coming year in the primary (coming at him from the right).