Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Tuesday he will not run for the U.S. Senate in November against Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.
Smith is facing a special election in November after taking over recently for former Sen. Al Franken after he resigned due to a series of allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his years as a comedian.
“I am very interested in public service for the common good. There are a lot of different ways to do,” Pawlenty told Fox Business host Neil Cavuto. “But I’ll tell you today that running for the United States Senate in 2018 won’t be part of those plans.”
.@TimPawlenty: I am not running for Senate in 2018 pic.twitter.com/nZElDNoElt— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) January 16, 2018
Pawlenty briefly floated the possibility in the wake of Franken’s resignation, but poured cold water on the idea that he could run. He is one of two 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls who were entertaining a run for the seat, along with former Rep. Michele Bachmann.
“I certainly appreciate that kind of encouragement and people thinking of me in those terms,” he said. “But if anybody’s going to run for the United States Senate this November … you have to start very soon.”
“Like I said, I’m interested in continuing to serve, but there’s a variety of ways to do that,” Pawlenty told the host. “Running for U.S. Senate this year won’t be one of them.”
Pawlenty served as the state’s governor from 2003-2011 and is currently the CEO of Financial Services Roundtable in Washington.
