Facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, Franken announced on December 7, 2017, that he would resign effective January 2, 2018.

Governor Mark Dayton appointed Franken's successor, Tina Smith, on December 13, 2017, and she ran in the special election.

[1] Smith won the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Karin Housley in the general election.

Representatives State and local politicians Individuals Labor unions Organizations Newspapers and news websites Smith won the election by 10.62 percentage points.

Both of those margins of victory were much smaller than that of senior Senator Amy Klobuchar, who on the same day defeated her Republican opponent by 24.1 points.