Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith will replace departing Sen. Al Franken, who is set to resign following sexual misconduct accusations, the state's governor, Mark Dayton, announced Wednesday.
Last week, Franken announced his plan to step down in the "coming weeks" as most of the Senate Democratic caucus pushed him to resign.
Dayton said he will appoint Smith, 59, to serve until January 2019. She will have to compete in a special election for the seat next November. If she wins that race, she would then have to run again in 2020, when Franken would have faced re-election.
