BIRDCHICK IS HERE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT ELSE?

BIRDS, SPECIFICALLY OWLS.

>> Cathy: YES, BUT WE'LL START WITH THURSDAY'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT FROM U.S.

SENATOR TINA SMITH SHE WILL NOT BE SEEKING REELECTION IN 2026.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME ONE OF MINNESOTA'S U.S. SENATE SEATS HAS BEEN UP PROPER GRABS SINCE 2006.

A DEEP POOL OF CANDIDATES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE ARE ALREADY EMERGING.

OUR LONGTIME POLITICAL REPORTER MARY LAHAMMER SPOKE WITH SENATOR SMITH ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WANT HER JOB AND HER UNLIKELY JOURNEY TO ELECTIVE OFFICE.

>> I HAVE DECIDED NOT TO RUN FOR REELECTION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

>> SENATOR SMITH, QUITE THE NEWS YOU ANNOUNCED, I KNOW YOU CITED FAMILY S THE REASON FOR NOT RUNNING AGAIN.

CAN YOU ALSO TALK ABOUT THE TONE, THE POLITICS, THE POLITICAL REALITY, WAS THIS AFACTOR?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, I SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THIS AND IT REALLY WAS SO MUCH ABOUT THE BALANCE THAT I WANT TO FIND IN MY LIFE OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS.

AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, WELL, WOULD IT HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF THE DEMOCRATS HAD, YOU KNOW, RETAINED POWER IN WASHINGTON?

>> RIGHT, RIGHT, MINORITY IS NOT FUN, IS IT?

>> YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY DIFFERENT, IT IS NOT FUN AND ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW, I FEEL THAT THERE IS SUCH AN URGENCY AND A DEEP CONCERN ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING.

BUT AS I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, THERE WAS NEVER A MOMENT WHERE I SAID, OH, IF WE KEEP THE MAJORITY, IF DEMOCRATS WERE IN CHARGE THEN I WOULD RUN OR NOT, THAT WAS JUST NOT THE WAY I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS DECISION.

>> WAS IT GOING TO BE A HARD RACE?

THE STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIR JUST SAID YOU'RE NOT RUNNING, HE SAYS BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE A REALLY TOUGH RACE AND MAYBE NOT WIN AGAIN.

WAS THAT A FACTOR?

IS >> NO, NO, HONESTLY NOT.

I FELT CONFIDENT THAT I WOULD WIN THE IF I RAN.

AS YOU KNOW A REPUBLICAN HASN'T WON STATEWIDE IN MINNESOTA SINCE GOVERNOR PAWLENTY'S SECOND TERM I THINK.

AND I HAVE ALWAYS RUN WELL IN MINNESOTA.

I WON BY 8 POINTS AND THEN BY 5 POINTS.

SO I THINK 2026 IS GOING TO BE A GOOD YEAR FOR DEMOCRATS.

IT WAS MUCH MORE MY EXCITEMENT, HONESTLY, ABOUT MAKING SPACE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, THIS GENERATION OF LEADERS IN MINNESOTA.

>> WELL, EXCITEMENT IS WHAT WAS TRIGGERED WITH YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT.

A LOT OF NAMES.

YOU KNOW HOW RARE AN OPEN U.S. SENATE SEAT IS AND SO MANY NAMES, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR PEGGY FLANAGAN FIRST TO GET IN, GOVERNOR WALZ MAY BE CONSIDERING, CONGRESSWOMAN OMAR.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FEELINGS ABOUT WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUCCEED YOU ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE?

>> NO, MY JOB IS TO LEAVE PLENTY OF ROOM FOR PEOPLE TO PUT TOGETHER CAMPAIGNS AND THAT'S GOING TO BE UP TO THOSE CANDIDATES IF THEY CHOOSE TO BE CANDIDATES AND THE MY.

IF VOTERS TO DECIDE AND I FEEL CONFIDENT WE WILL ELECT A GREAT UNITED STATES SENATOR IN 2026.

BUT THERE'S A LOT OF WATER THAT HAS TO PASS NDER THE BRIDGE BEFORE THEN.

>> ADAM SCHWARZ ANNOUNCED HIS CANDIDACY.

>> ROYCE WHITE WAS ALREADY IN, HE CHALLENGED KLOBUCHAR.

>> AGAIN WE'LL HAVE TO SEE.

LUCKY I'M GLAD I HUNG UP MY PROGNOSTICATOR SPURS IN THIS ROLE SO WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

>> TINA SMITH WAY TOO MANY TIMES, WE WILL TO SAY KARIN HOUSLEY A LOT MORE.

>> LET'S TALK ABOUT GENDER A LITTLE BIT, EVEN OTHER REPUBLICANS WANTING TO GET IN, STATE REPRESENTATIVE KRISTIN ROBBINS TOLD ME SHE'S CONSIDERING IT, STATE SENATOR JULIA COLEMAN.

REGARDLESS OF PARTY DO YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR A WOMAN BEING IN THE SEAT OR RUNNING?

>> YOU KNOW, MINNESOTA HAS BEEN ONE OF A HANDFUL OF STATES THAT HAS TWO WOMEN SENATORS FOR A LONG TIME.

SO I AM ALWAYS EXCITED WHEN THERE ARE WOMEN READY TO LEAD AND WE HAVE A LOT OF REALLY STRONG WOMEN.

>> LET'S TAKE A MINUTE DOWN MEMORY LANE, I'VE KNOWN YOU FOR DECADES AND I KNEW YOU BEHIND THE SCENES, YOU WERE A SOUGHT-AFTER POLITICAL OPERATIVE UNTIL A GUY MARK DAYTON SAID, HEY, RUN WITH ME AND PUT YOUR NAME ON A TICKET AND THAT WAS YOUR FIRST TIME, WASN'T IT?

>> IT ABSOLUTELY WAS.

I WAS SENDING MARK A MESSAGE JUST LAST NIGHT OR THIS MORNING, WE'VE BEEN IN CONVERSATION TO LET HIM KNOW WHAT MY FINAL DECISION WAS AND I SAID YOU MADE THE AUDACIOUS MOVE TO ASK YOUR CHIEF OF STAFF TO RUN WITH YOU AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME IT WAS SUGGESTED TO ME I THOUGHT IT WAS SUCH A RIDICULOUS IDEA THAT I LAUGHED AND IS WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM.

AND SO I OWE SO MUCH TO MARK DAYTON AND HIS TRUST IN ME AND OUR INCREDIBLE PARTNERSHIP OVER THE SIX YEARS THAT WE SERVED TOGETHER.

>> YEAH, A PARTNERSHIP THAT GOT YOU TO THE U.S. SENATE.

WE SHOULD REMIND FOLKS -- >> ABSOLUTELY.

>> MEMORY LANE, IT WAS A TOUGH TIME FOR DEMOCRATS AND MINNESOTA IN THE NATION WHEN SENATOR FRANKIN RESIGNED AND GOVERNOR HAD APPOINTMENT POWER.

HOW DID YOU FEEL INITIALLY WHEN HE TURNED TO YOU THAT TIME ND SAID, OKAY, ANOTHER JOB TO YOU YOU.

>> MINNESOTA'S NEXT UNITED STATES ENATOR, TINA MID.

>> IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE I HAD NEVER HAD AN ASPIRATION TO SERVE IN THE SENATE.

AMY AND AL WERE THERE, AND NEVER ENVISIONED AN OPENING SO I WAS SORT OF STUNNED BY THE IDEA AND THERE WAS A THINKING WE HAD TO DO VERY QUICKLY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROCESS WAS.

AND FOR ME THE BIGGEST LEAP WAS SAYING, OKAY, YOU'RE GOING TO RUN AND SERVE IN THE SENATE, YOU'RE GOING TO SERVE IN THE SENATE, YOU HAVE TO IMMEDIATELY ASK THE MINNESOTA VOTERS TO HIRE YOU, TEN MONTHS LATER, AND THEN YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO RUN AGAIN TWO YEARS AFTER THAT.

>> VERY UNUSUAL SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES FOR A SENATOR.

>> EXTREMELY UNUSUAL, FOR SOMEBODY WHO HAD NEVER, HONESTLY, LET'S BE HONEST I HAD RUN AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BUT THAT'S VERY DIFFERENT FROM BEING A PRINCIPAL ON THE BALLOT AND THE WAY THAT YOU ARE WHEN YOU'RE A SENATOR SO I HAD TO REALLY FIGURE OUT WHETHER I THOUGHT I COULD DO IT, WHETHER I COULD BE SUCCESSFUL AND WHEN I CONCLUDED THAT I COULD, THEN IT DID FEEL A LITTLE LIKE JUMPING OFF A TALL BUILDING.

>> LOOKING BACK, WHAT ARE YOUR SUCCESSES, WHAT ARE OU MOST PROUD?

IS >> I'M VERY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT I'VE DONE TO PROTECT THE BOUNDARY WATERS, EXPAND CLEAN ENERGY IN MINNESOTA AND I'M GOING TO BE FIGHTING REALLY HARD TO PROTECT THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS WITH THIS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.

I'VE DONE WORK ON IMPROVING MATERNAL HEALTH IN RURAL COMMUNITIES AND THAT'S BEEN IMPORTANT BUT I THINK MAYBE THE THING I'M MOST PROUD OF IS THE WORK I'VE DONE AROUND MENTAL HEALTH.

>> ON THE FLIP SIDE WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONCERNS AND WORRIES NOW, THERE'S SO MUCH UPHEAVAL IN WASHINGTON.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE FOLKS WITH ON THAT?

>> THERE'S SO MUCH, THERE'S SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.

I AM JUST GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TOE MAKE SURE THAT THE LAWS OF THIS LAND ARE FOLLOWED BY THIS ADMINISTRATION, AND THAT WE DO EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN TO PROTECT PEOPLE, PROTECT THEIR SAFETY AND THEIR HEALTH AND THEIR WELL BEING.

UNDERSTANDING THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE VOTES TO STOP WHAT DONALD TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICANS ARE DOING, BUT I THINK WE CAN HELP TO RAISE THE ALARM AND I THINK WE CAN DO EVERYTHING, WE HAVE TO O EVERYTHING WE CAN TO HELP PROTECT PEOPLE'S POCKETBOOKS