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Dayton still silent on Senate pick

Governor Mark Dayton is expected to announce a replacement for Sen. Al Franken this week, and it's still not clear whether he'll choose a caretaker or someone who would be a viable candidate for the special senate election in 2018.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gov. Mark Dayton remained silent Monday on who he'll pick to replace Sen. Al Franken, who is resigning from the US Senate amid multiple accusations of unwanted sexual advances.

The Governor must appoint a replacement senator to hold the seat until next year, when there's special election to fulfill the final two years of Franken's six-year term.

"Governor Dayton is under extreme pressure from national Democrats to appoint someone to that seat who wants to run in 2018, and will be a viable statewide candidate," Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs told KARE.

"Will he go that route, or will the governor take a more politically safe path of appoint a caretaker."

Jacobs pointed out that Democrats learned an important lesson about self-dealing in 1976 when then-Gov. Wendell Anderson essentially appointed himself to the Senate to fill Walter Mondale's term, when Mondale left to become Vice President.

Anderson resigned as governor, and as soon as Lt. Gov. Rudy Perpich move into the governor's office he appointed Anderson to the Senate. Two years later Minnesota voters reacted sharply, by electing Republicans to both Senate seats, the governor's office and giving control of the State House to the GOP.

The sound defeat of the DFL slate in 1978 became known as the "Minnesota Massacre," a tip of the hat to the "Minnesota Miracle" -- education reform engineered by Gov. Anderson.

Former Gov. Arne Carlson said if he had the choice to make, he'd go with someone who has no ambitions to run in 2018.

"I would certainly put in a placeholder," Carlson told KARE.

"The people of Minnesota have a right to fairness, anytime you appoint somebody for a longer period of time you’re opening the door to the charge of favoritism and the public will reject that."

Carlson himself benefited from the Minnesota Massacre. In 1978 he was elected state auditor, a position he held for 12 years prior to winning two terms as governor.

Names in the hopper

Much of the speculation centers on Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who was Dayton's chief of staff before becoming his running mate in 2014.

Smith was widely considered a strong candidate for governor in 2018, but removed herself from consideration earlier this year, saying that the time wasn't right for her and her family.

Most pundits believe Dayton will pick a woman, considering the circumstances of Franken's departure from the Senate. Franken himself alluded to it himself, referring to his successor as "her" in his resignation speech.

The prospective female politicians whose names come up most often in conversations around the State Capitol include Attorney General Lori Swanson, House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman, former House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Sen. Patricia Torres Ray, Sen. Melisa Franzen, Rep. Peggy Flanagan, former House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Rep. Laurie Halverson and former Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson.

Those are also among the same names that would come up as possible candidates in 2018, in the race to finish Franken's term.

"This is an open seat," Jacobs explained. "It’s really an extraordinary opportunity for politicians who’ve been sitting on the sidelines wandering if there’s going to be another role for them."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar will likely be running for a third six-year term in 2018 too, but Jacobs said Republicans will be more interested in running for Franken's seat.

"There are very few Republican candidates who want to take on Senator Klobuchar, but an open Al Franken seat in 2018 will attract a lot of high-quality Republicans eager to jump into that seat and then prepare for re-election two years later in 2020."

Jacobs said the names that come up most often in the Republican side of the ledger are former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Erik Paulsen, Rep. Tom Emmer and former Rep. Michele Bachmann.

"Michelle Bachman could be the big surprise for the 2018 election," he remarked.

"She’s been giving speeches in Minnesota and around the country that sound a lot like Donald Trump. And that message played very well in Minnesota, where Donald Trump came within one and a half points of winning."

He said Pawlenty, while a strong general election candidate, may encounter resistance in the quest for the GOP nomination.

"He may face a battle winning the nomination in a new Republican party that is being rebuilt in the image of Donald Trump, that includes Tea Party elements that are not sympathetic to Pawlenty," Jacobs said.

"They may view him as part of the Republican establishment, and may resent the fact he's been working for a banking lobby group in Washington D.C."

Sen. Karen Housley of Woodbury has said she's considering a run for US Senate. Other Republican women who could be in the mix in 2018 include Sen. Julie Rosen, House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin, Rep Sarah Anderson and Rep. Jenifer Loon.

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