Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar indicates she'll appoint U.S. Senate successor

Longtime U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is projected to become the first woman to serve as Minnesota's governor, notching a win Tuesday evening in the middle of her Senate term.

"She can't be both senator and governor at the same time," said political science professor David Schults. "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, meaning outgoing Gov. Tim Walz or Klobuchar will be the deciding voice depending on when she officially resigns.

"The person will be appointed and then have to run for a special election November of 2027, and then at that point, whoever wins that special election would fill out the remainder of Klobuchar's term." Schultz said.

On Wednesday, Klobuchar indicated she'll be the one who will make the appointment.

"I will be very careful in that decision," Klobuchar said. "Stay tuned for that, it is an interim position because there will be an election for that position and so I will do right by the State of Minnesota with that person."

The appointment process also happened in 2018, when former Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Sen. 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 Walz indicated he wouldn't want the job, saying he would "rather eat glass than do that."

In January, Klobuchar will be sworn in. She's already laid out her priorities and transition team. In the meantime, she'll be wrapping up work in Washington.

"They're going to be busy, because a lot of stuff that the Senate didn't do, the 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," Schultz said.