Governor-elect Klobuchar indicates she’ll pick next Minnesota Senator

Voters decided to send one of Minnesota's Senators to Washington, but they won't have much say in sending the other. As Ashley Graham explains, that power now lies with the new Governor. Long-time U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is now governor-elect of Minnesota. Be a transformative governor for this state. Notching a win on Tuesday in the middle of her Senate term. She can't be both senator and governor at the same time, that's obvious. Political science professor David Schultz walking us through what will happen next. At some point, she's going to have to step down as U.S. senator. State law gives the Minnesota governor power to appoint an interim replacement for that Senate seat. The governor will be able to pick somebody. Temporary will serve in that position until the next general election which will be next November 2027. Meaning outgoing Governor Tim Walz or incoming Amy Klobuchar will be the deciding voice depending on when she officially resigns. Stay tuned for that, it is an interim position. Though Wednesday, Klobuchar indicated she's the one who will make the appointment. So I will do right by the state of Minnesota with that person. This appointment process has happened in the past. Back in 2018, the governor appointed Tina Smith to fill an empty seat. She went on to win the special election before serving another term. Klobuchar hasn't publicly floated any names to fill her spot, though earlier this year, Governor Tim Walz said he would not want the job. Eric asked me if I would like to fill out Senator Klobuchar's Senate term, and I said I would rather eat glass than do that. In January, Klobuchar will be sworn in. She's already laid out her priorities and transition team. And in the meantime, we'll be wrapping up work in Washington. A lot of stuff that the Senate didn't do, they pushed off until after the election. And so they're going to have a lot of budgetary work and a whole bunch of other things to do. Ashley Gramps, WCCO News.