31 Facts About Tina Smith

Christine Elizabeth Smith is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Minnesota since 2018.

Tina Smith then began a career as a political consultant and organizer for local Democratic candidates.

Tina 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.

Tina Smith then helped run Mark Dayton's successful campaign for Governor of Minnesota in 2010.

Later, for Dayton's reelection campaign in the 2014 election, Tina Smith was named as Dayton's pick for lieutenant governor.

Tina Smith won the 2018 special election and was elected to a full term in 2020.

On February 13,2025, Tina Smith announced that she will not run for reelection in 2026.

Tina Smith mostly grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, attending Manderfield and Acequia Madre Elementary.

Tina Smith graduated from Stanford University with a degree in political science, and later earned a master's degree in business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

In 1984, Tina Smith moved to Minnesota for a marketing job at General Mills.

Tina Smith later started her own marketing firm, where she consulted with businesses and nonprofits.

Tina Smith managed Ted Mondale's unsuccessful 1998 campaign for governor.

Tina Smith then joined the campaign of Mark Dayton, who skipped the endorsing convention and eventually won the DFL primary.

Tina Smith stepped down as Dayton's chief of staff to campaign for lieutenant governor.

Tina Smith took office as lieutenant governor on January 5,2015, and served until she was appointed to represent Minnesota in the US Senate on January 2,2018.

Tina Smith spent a significant amount of time traveling the state in support of the priorities of Dayton's administration, including funding for optional preschool for all four-year-olds, transportation infrastructure, and rural broadband internet access.

Tina Smith served as chair of the Destination Medical Center board until her resignation in December 2017.

Tina Smith's campaign focused on delivering results for Minnesotans on local issues, such as farming in southern Minnesota, police brutality in wake of the George Floyd protests and North Shore drilling in the Duluth area, and took strong positions on national issues such as the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination.

Tina Smith was accompanied by fellow Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and former Vice President and former Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale.

Tina Smith was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6,2021, when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

Tina Smith called the participants in the attack "seditionists" and blamed Trump for inciting the attack.

On January 31,2024, Tina Smith sent a one-minute video to the Washington Press Club Foundation's annual congressional dinner "roasting" US Representative Dean Phillips over his campaign in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

Tina Smith previously served on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from January 10,2018, to January 3,2019, during the first session of the 116th Congress.

Tina Smith was a vice president at Planned Parenthood from 2003 to 2006, where she lobbied against efforts to restrict abortion.

Tina Smith was a member of the Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, which published a report of its findings in August 2020.

In July 2020, Tina Smith introduced the Substance Regulation and Safety Act to legalize cannabis at the federal level and direct federal agencies to develop various regulations regarding cannabis.

In March 2024, Tina Smith urged the Biden administration to recognize a "nonmilitarized" Palestinian state after the end of the Gaza war.

In November 2024, Tina Smith was one of 19 senators to vote to halt the United States' arms sales to Israel.

In June 2019 Tina Smith was one of eight senators to sponsor the Made in America Act, legislation that would designate federal programs that had funded infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards and mandate that the materials used in these programs be domestically produced.

Tina Smith's husband, Archie Tina Smith, is an independent investor, focusing largely on health care and medical companies.

In May 2019, during a speech on the Senate floor, Tina Smith described her experiences with getting help in college and in her early 30s for depression.