WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Welcome to the Teep Dive. We're so thrilled you 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.360 could join us today because we have a truly fascinating 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:09.640 mission ahead of us. We really do. Yeah. If you 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:11.980 were to just glance at today's source material, 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.460 you might actually think we're in for a, well, 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:16.800 a rather dry history lesson. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:18.620 It looks like just a spreadsheet at first glance. 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:21.519 Right. We are looking at a Wikipedia data table 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.059 titled List of United States Senators from Minnesota. 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:28.160 And it is just rows and columns of names, dates 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.839 and party affiliations. Just raw data. Exactly. 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:33.399 Starting all the way from when Minnesota was 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:36.899 admitted to the union on May 11th, 1858. And 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:40.039 according to the data, as of early 2018, exactly 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:42.939 44 people have served in the United States Senate 00:00:42.939 --> 00:00:46.219 for Minnesota. But let me tell you, hidden within 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:49.020 these seemingly dry data points is this incredible 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:52.799 saga of of political musical chairs, surprising 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.799 third party anomalies. and some truly wild historical 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.000 milestones. Okay, let's unpack this. It really 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.820 is a remarkable data set. And before we get into 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:02.719 the specifics, I want to establish exactly how 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:04.680 we are approaching this. Good idea. This list 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.700 is essentially a mirror of American political 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.659 evolution. We are going to be talking about a 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.560 lot of political parties today. Democrats, Republicans, 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:16.200 the Farmer Labor Party, the Independence Party, 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:18.760 and so on. Quite a mix. Right. So we want to 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:21.120 be absolutely clear with you, the listener. We 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:23.959 are impartially reporting the historical timeline 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:27.200 of these seats. We are not taking sides and we 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:29.019 are certainly not endorsing any of the political 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:31.579 viewpoints held by the figures in this source 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:33.659 material. Just sticking to the facts. Exactly. 00:01:33.659 --> 00:01:36.319 We're simply tracking the factual historical 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:40.439 record of who held power and when. And the reason 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.579 you should care about this is that by tracking 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:44.680 the timeline of a single state's representation, 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:48.140 you can actually see how individual ambitions, 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:52.680 sudden tragedies, and... Clever strategic loopholes 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:54.739 have shaped the government over the last 160 00:01:54.739 --> 00:01:57.219 years. Yeah. And looking at the very beginning 00:01:57.219 --> 00:02:00.099 of the data, I see a piece of baseline trivia 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:02.180 that seems totally counterintuitive. Not the 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:04.780 age thing. Yes. When we hear the terms senior 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:07.819 and junior senators, it is incredibly easy to 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:10.099 assume the senior senator is the older person. 00:02:10.259 --> 00:02:12.180 It's what you'd naturally think. But the table 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:14.520 shows that Minnesota is actually one of only 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:18.000 15 states in the entire country to have a younger 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.969 senior senator and an older junior senator. How 00:02:20.969 --> 00:02:23.430 does that happen? Well, that is a quirk of congressional 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:25.930 rules. They share this dynamic with places like 00:02:25.930 --> 00:02:29.310 California, Hawaii and Pennsylvania. OK. It's 00:02:29.310 --> 00:02:31.310 a great reminder that seniority in the Senate 00:02:31.310 --> 00:02:34.509 is strictly about time served, not biological 00:02:34.509 --> 00:02:38.430 age. A 35 year old who gets elected first will 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:40.990 forever outrank a 60 year old who gets elected 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:43.069 to the state's other seat a few years later. 00:02:43.150 --> 00:02:46.870 Wow. Forever. Right. That distinction is crucial 00:02:46.870 --> 00:02:49.639 to keep in mind. especially as we get into how 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.319 politicians have historically manipulated that 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.840 exact definition of seniority later on. I see. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.819 But to truly appreciate the anomalies in this 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.659 timeline, we need a baseline of stability first. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.000 If you look at the late 19th and early 20th centuries 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.840 on that table, you will see the name Newt Nelson. 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:08.960 Let me check. Yes, I see him right here. It looks 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.919 like he held his seat from 1895 all the way until 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:15.240 his death in 1923. Which makes him Minnesota's 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.259 longest serving senator. That is a massive chunk 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:19.979 of time. Nearly three decades of unbroken representation. 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:22.740 When you see a block of stability like that in 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:25.520 the data, it really highlights the utter chaos 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.719 that happens elsewhere on the list. And speaking 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.240 of chaos, here's where it gets really interesting. 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:33.770 If we look slightly before Newt Nelson, there 00:03:33.770 --> 00:03:35.710 is a name on this list that just keeps appearing 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:38.389 and disappearing. William Wyndham. Yes, William 00:03:38.389 --> 00:03:41.189 Wyndham. Just looking at the raw dates next to 00:03:41.189 --> 00:03:44.409 his name, my head is spinning. What exactly is 00:03:44.409 --> 00:03:47.349 going on with his timeline in the late 19th century? 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:50.370 The William Wyndham timeline is arguably one 00:03:50.370 --> 00:03:52.770 of the most fractured, chaotic stretches in the 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:54.810 entire data set. Let's trace the exact dates 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:57.830 here. Okay, lay it out for me. In 1870, Senator 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:00.580 Daniel S. Norton dies in office. William Wyndham 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:04.080 is appointed on July 15, 1870 to continue Norton's 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.879 term. Makes sense. Then, in January 1871, Wyndham 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.419 is officially elected to finish that term. That 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:12.580 same year, he is elected to his own full term 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.599 and re -elected in 1877. So far, that seems like 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:17.660 a perfectly normal trajectory for a politician. 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:21.500 It is until you hit the year 1881. On March 7 00:04:21.500 --> 00:04:23.819 of that year, Wyndham resigns from the Senate. 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:26.930 Just quits. He leaves the legislative branch 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:29.129 entirely to become the U .S. Secretary of the 00:04:29.129 --> 00:04:32.129 Treasury under President James A. Garfield. OK, 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:34.170 stepping up to the cabinet. Right. So the Senate 00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:37.910 seat goes vacant for five days. Then on March 00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:41.490 12, a man named Alonzo J. Edgerton is appointed 00:04:41.490 --> 00:04:44.329 to continue Wyndham's term. But Edgerton doesn't 00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:46.829 stay long, does he? The table shows his term 00:04:46.829 --> 00:04:49.810 ending in October of that exact same year. He 00:04:49.810 --> 00:04:52.370 was merely a placeholder. because on November 00:04:52.370 --> 00:04:55.990 15th, 1881, William Wyndham comes back. Wait, 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:58.589 what? He is elected to finish his own vacated 00:04:58.589 --> 00:05:01.209 term. He left the Senate for the cabinet, decided 00:05:01.209 --> 00:05:03.269 he wanted his old job back just months later, 00:05:03.350 --> 00:05:05.750 and reclaimed it. How is that even possible? 00:05:06.329 --> 00:05:08.990 Today, the idea of a sitting senator resigning 00:05:08.990 --> 00:05:11.529 to join the president's cabinet, deciding a few 00:05:11.529 --> 00:05:13.930 months later they want a do -over, and just casually 00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:16.649 orchestrating a return to their exact same seat 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:19.899 seems impossible. How did he just... Take it 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:22.300 back. What's fascinating here is what this tells 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:24.839 us about the rules of the era. To understand 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:26.779 this, we have to talk about the 17th Amendment 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:28.839 to the U .S. Constitution. Which didn't happen 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.240 until later, right? Exactly. It wasn't ratified 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:35.839 until 1913. Before 1913, United States senators 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.420 were not elected by the general voting public. 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.980 They were chosen by the state legislatures. Ah, 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.620 so the voters of Minnesota weren't the ones putting 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:46.339 him back in the seat. Not directly, no. It was 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:48.939 a highly centralized, almost club -like system. 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:51.660 The politicians in the state capitol were the 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:54.240 ones making the deals. A lot of backroom handshakes. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.699 Very much so. Wyndham went to the treasury. But 00:05:57.699 --> 00:05:59.879 when President Garfield was tragically assassinated 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:02.540 later that year, the political landscape shifted. 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:05.680 Wyndham wanted his Senate seat back. And because 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.459 it was a closed -door legislative process, the 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:11.759 state lawmakers simply swapped him back in. The 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.300 appointed placeholder, Edgerton. quietly stepped 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.160 aside. That is wild. But looking at the next 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:19.980 column for the 1883 election, Wyndham's name 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:22.339 disappears again. He was replaced by a man named 00:06:22.339 --> 00:06:24.779 Dwight M. Sabin. Does that mean the backroom 00:06:24.779 --> 00:06:27.079 deals eventually ran out of steam? It strongly 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:28.920 suggests that even within the state legislature, 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:31.319 there were limits to how much revolving door 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:33.740 behavior they would tolerate. Wyndham lost his 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.439 renomination. They'd had enough. Yeah, the patience 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:38.920 for treating a United States Senate seat like 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.819 a temporary holding pen had clearly worn thin 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:43.740 by the time the next full term came up. That 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:45.870 makes a lot of sense. Moving forward into the 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:48.509 20th century, the colors and labels on this Wikipedia 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:51.230 table take a dramatic turn. They certainly do. 00:06:51.370 --> 00:06:53.529 We're so conditioned to view historical election 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:57.230 tables as a simple binary, a C of D for Democrat 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:00.769 and R for Republican. But starting in the 1920s, 00:07:00.769 --> 00:07:03.949 that duopoly completely fractures. I'm seeing 00:07:03.949 --> 00:07:06.310 a massive block of something called the Farmer 00:07:06.310 --> 00:07:10.110 Labor Party. What caused this massive third party 00:07:10.110 --> 00:07:12.290 takeover? You have to look at the economic reality 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:14.550 of the upper Midwest during the interwar. period. 00:07:14.870 --> 00:07:17.750 Following World War I, there was a severe agricultural 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:20.629 depression. Times were tough. Incredibly tough. 00:07:20.769 --> 00:07:22.870 The farmers and the industrial laborers felt 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.329 entirely abandoned by the two mainstream parties. 00:07:25.550 --> 00:07:27.589 They didn't feel the traditional Democrats or 00:07:27.589 --> 00:07:29.910 Republicans were addressing the plunging crop 00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:32.889 prices or the difficult labor conditions, so 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:35.029 they organized. And it really worked. It did. 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:38.199 Statistically, this wasn't just a minor bliff 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:41.240 or a single rogue candidate. It was a sustained, 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:44.500 dominant presence over nearly two decades. The 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:46.720 names just keep coming on the list. Henrik Shipstead 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:49.399 is elected in 1922 under the Farmer Labor banner, 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:52.699 and he holds that seat from 1923 all the way 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:55.829 to 1947. That's a long run. Then Magnus Johnson 00:07:55.829 --> 00:07:58.990 wins a special election in 1923 to finish Newt 00:07:58.990 --> 00:08:02.149 Nelson's term. Later, Elmer A. Benson is appointed 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:05.949 in 1935 and Ernest Lundin is elected in 1936. 00:08:06.470 --> 00:08:09.490 They are all flying the farmer labor flag. It 00:08:09.490 --> 00:08:11.490 completely shatters the assumption that the two 00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:13.910 party system has always been an unbreakable rule. 00:08:14.110 --> 00:08:17.370 That data point speaks to a deep underlying populist 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:19.410 and agrarian streak in the state's electorate. 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:22.089 They simply refuse to be absorbed by the traditional 00:08:22.089 --> 00:08:24.870 political machines. The table forces us to recognize 00:08:24.870 --> 00:08:27.110 a period where the political binary was completely 00:08:27.110 --> 00:08:28.910 upended. It's right there in black and white. 00:08:29.029 --> 00:08:30.829 And furthermore, if you trace that threat of 00:08:30.829 --> 00:08:33.269 independence forward into the modern era, you 00:08:33.269 --> 00:08:35.250 see it echoing in the state's political DNA. 00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:37.990 You definitely see it echoing. Later on the list, 00:08:38.070 --> 00:08:40.110 the label independent Republicans starts popping 00:08:40.110 --> 00:08:43.929 up. David Durenberger served from 1978 to 1995 00:08:43.929 --> 00:08:46.929 under that label. Rudy Boschwitz did as well. 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:49.970 Right. And even Rod Graham's up to 2001. And 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:52.230 then there's Dean Barkley. In November 2002, 00:08:52.649 --> 00:08:54.850 he is appointed to the Senate representing the 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.929 Independence Party. The specific labels morph 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:00.710 over time. But the underlying willingness of 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:03.649 the state's political apparatus to embrace or 00:09:03.649 --> 00:09:06.019 at least accommodate. third -party identifiers, 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:09.320 is a persistent pattern in the data. They don't 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.120 just default to the standard red or blue without 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.220 question. No, they clearly don't. Now, as we 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:15.659 transition into the mid -century, we encounter 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:18.879 some true giants of American politics, and the 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:20.940 data reveals how they engaged in some highly 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:23.460 strategic timeline manipulation. Let's look at 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:26.460 the famous Democratic Farmer Labor, or DFL, senators. 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:29.350 Hubert Humphrey serves a massive chunk of time 00:09:29.350 --> 00:09:32.970 from 1949 to 1964. A very prominent figure. He 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:34.690 resigns because he's been elected vice president 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:36.750 of the United States. To fill his seat, Walter 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:40.490 Mondale is appointed on December 30, 1964. Mondale 00:09:40.490 --> 00:09:42.610 is then reelected and serves all the way until 00:09:42.610 --> 00:09:46.470 1976. Right. Tracking perfectly so far. But looking 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:48.970 at the end of Mondale's term, the dates are really 00:09:48.970 --> 00:09:51.409 strange. His term was supposed to end in January 00:09:51.409 --> 00:09:55.529 1977, but he resigns early on December 30th, 00:09:55.529 --> 00:09:59.309 1976. Why would a sitting senator resign just 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:02.389 days before his term naturally expires? Was he 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:04.809 just trying to start his vacation early? If we 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:07.029 connect this to the bigger picture, this is a 00:10:07.029 --> 00:10:09.789 masterclass in the invisible mechanics of Senate 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:12.649 power. As we discussed earlier with the H -Cork, 00:10:12.789 --> 00:10:15.519 seniority in the Senate is everything. Time served. 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:17.580 Exactly. It dictates your committee assignments, 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.080 your physical office space, and your institutional 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:23.120 influence. When a new class of senators is sworn 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.000 in together in early January, they are all tied 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.460 in seniority. Okay, I'm following. But if a sitting 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:31.159 senator resigns just a few days early, the governor 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.159 can appoint their successor to finish those final 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.789 few days of the term. Oh. The table shows a man 00:10:36.789 --> 00:10:38.870 named Wendell Anderson stepping into that seat 00:10:38.870 --> 00:10:42.330 on December 30. So he gets sworn in while all 00:10:42.330 --> 00:10:44.149 the other freshmen across the country are waiting 00:10:44.149 --> 00:10:47.710 for January. Precisely. By the time January rolls 00:10:47.710 --> 00:10:50.549 around, Wendell Anderson technically has more 00:10:50.549 --> 00:10:53.350 time served, even if it's only by a single week, 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:56.389 than the entire incoming freshman class. That 00:10:56.389 --> 00:10:58.850 is brilliant. He jumps to the front of the line 00:10:58.850 --> 00:11:01.269 for committee assignments. The source explicitly 00:11:01.269 --> 00:11:04.960 calls this preferential seniority. It's an incredibly 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:07.820 calculated exploitation of the rulebook, immortalized 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:09.740 right here in the dates on this table. Did the 00:11:09.740 --> 00:11:12.399 voters reward that kind of rulebook exploitation? 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.340 Not in this case. The data shows that Anderson 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:17.740 ultimately lost the election to a full term in 00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:21.039 1978. The electorate is often wary of obvious 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:23.639 backroom maneuvering, so the long -term benefit 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:25.679 of that specific loophole didn't pan out for 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.720 him. The Humphrey story doesn't end in 1964 either. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.320 I see Hubert Humphrey's name reappear later on 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.179 the list. He is elected again and serves from 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:37.320 January 1971 until January 13th, 1978. Yes. That 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:40.080 specific date is marked by tragedy as he died 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.460 in office, which led to another unique appointment. 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:45.340 His wife, Muriel Humphrey, was appointed on January 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:48.659 25, 1978 to continue his term until later that 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:51.720 November. It is incredibly moving to see that 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.480 continuity of legacy captured in the raw data. 00:11:55.809 --> 00:11:58.330 Unfortunately, tragedy is a recurring element 00:11:58.330 --> 00:12:01.649 when you study a timeline of this length. The 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:04.129 data does not shy away from the sudden, jarring 00:12:04.129 --> 00:12:06.950 interruptions of history. Moving into the modern 00:12:06.950 --> 00:12:08.950 era, the table reflects another sudden loss. 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:12.409 Paul Wellstone was elected in 1990 and was a 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.450 fixture in the Senate until October 25, 2002. 00:12:15.870 --> 00:12:18.870 He tragically died in an aviation accident right 00:12:18.870 --> 00:12:21.149 before the election, cutting short his tenure. 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:23.659 It was a very dark time for the state. That led 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:25.940 to a brief vacancy, followed by the appointment 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:28.379 of Dean Barkley, whom we mentioned earlier. But 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:30.379 if you keep scrolling down past that, you hit 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.620 a completely different kind of anomaly in 2008. 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.799 The table mentions the Class 2 election between 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.519 Republican Norm Coleman and DFL challenger Al 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:41.820 Franken. Yes, the 2008 recount. Wait, for our 00:12:41.820 --> 00:12:43.279 listeners who might not be familiar with Senate 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.500 mechanics, what exactly do Class 1 and Class 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:47.899 2 mean here? Why are they categorized like that? 00:12:48.330 --> 00:12:50.549 That is a great question. When the founders established 00:12:50.549 --> 00:12:52.830 the Senate, they didn't want the entire chamber 00:12:52.830 --> 00:12:55.190 to be replaced all at once. They wanted a continuous 00:12:55.190 --> 00:12:57.690 body. So no complete turnover. Right. So they 00:12:57.690 --> 00:12:59.909 divided the 100 Senate seats into three classes. 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.500 Every two years, only one of those classes, about 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:05.340 one third of the Senate, goes up for election. 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.039 A class one senator is just on a different six 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:10.259 year election cycle than a class two senator. 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:13.299 Minnesota, like every state, has two senators 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:15.740 in different classes, so they never run for reelection 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:17.700 in the exact same year. That makes perfect sense. 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:21.240 So looking at this class two election in 2008, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.759 the data for this specific seat is visually arresting. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.720 Norm Coleman's term officially expired on January 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:31.179 3, 2009, but Al Franken's term doesn't begin 00:13:31.179 --> 00:13:34.720 until July 7, 2009. The table literally just 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.679 says vacant for over six months. What happens 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.860 when a state only has one senator for half a 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:42.539 year? The real world stakes of that blank space 00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:45.299 are massive. Think about the historical context 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:48.200 of early 2009. The country was in the depths 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.120 of a generational financial crisis. Oh, right. 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:52.610 The Great Recession. Exactly. The federal government 00:13:52.610 --> 00:13:55.289 was debating massive stimulus packages, health 00:13:55.289 --> 00:13:58.549 care reform, and crucial policies. And during 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:00.990 that entire period, Minnesota was flying on one 00:14:00.990 --> 00:14:02.990 engine. They were missing half of their representation 00:14:02.990 --> 00:14:05.669 in the upper chamber. They were missing tie -breaking 00:14:05.669 --> 00:14:08.450 votes and committee leverage. How did it drag 00:14:08.450 --> 00:14:11.250 on for so long? The election was historically 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.909 closed down to a margin of just a few hundred 00:14:13.909 --> 00:14:17.320 votes out of millions cast. It triggered mandatory 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.159 recounts, which then evolved into grueling month 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:22.639 after month legal battles that went all the way 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.360 to the state Supreme Court. The machinery of 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.659 the election essentially jammed. We expect seamless 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:30.000 transitions of power, a clean handoff from one 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.919 term to the next. But this table documents the 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:35.360 terrifying moments when the gears lock up. A 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.419 six month vacancy in the modern era is an astonishing 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:41.100 historical footnote. It really is. Franken, of 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:43.259 course, was finally seated in July, resolving 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:45.950 one of the most. agonizing blank spaces on this 00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:49.009 entire list. He went on to be reelected in 2014, 00:14:49.210 --> 00:14:51.909 but then the table shows he resigned, effective 00:14:51.909 --> 00:14:55.289 January 2, 2018. So what does this all mean for 00:14:55.289 --> 00:14:58.370 us today in 2026? Let's look at the current setup. 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:01.139 Right now, the two senators representing Minnesota 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:03.799 are Amy Klobuchar, who has been in office since 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.259 2007, and Tina Smith, who was appointed in 2018 00:15:07.259 --> 00:15:10.200 to continue Franken's term and then won her subsequent 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:13.620 elections. And this brings us to a major historical 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:16.440 milestone explicitly noted in our source material. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.559 The appointment of Tina Smith in 2018 marked 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:22.240 the very first time in Minnesota's history that 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.580 the state was represented by two female U .S. 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:27.600 senators at the exact same time. Out of the 50 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.879 states, Minnesota became one of only four states 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:32.500 to achieve a simultaneously all -female delegation, 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:35.340 standing right alongside Nevada, New Hampshire, 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:37.059 and Washington. That's quite the achievement. 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:40.100 From statehood in 1858 all the way to 2018, it 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:43.059 took exactly 160 years to reach that milestone. 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.679 And looking ahead, the table gives us a preview 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.659 of what's to come. Amy Klobuchar was just reelected 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:51.480 in 2024, so she is set for her next term. But 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.360 for the other seat, Pena Smith has announced 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.360 she is retiring at the end of her current term, 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.159 which means that for the 2026 election, the data 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.200 table simply reads, to be determined. It's the 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:03.299 blank space at the end of the ledger waiting 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:06.299 to be written. The history is still actively 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:08.779 unfolding. It really puts it all into perspective. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.259 We've just taken you on an incredible journey 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:14.539 spanning over 160 years, all drawn from a single 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:17.759 list of names and dates. We started back at statehood 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.580 in 1858. Quite a long way back. We rode the dizzying 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:24.120 musical chairs roller coaster of William Wyndham 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:26.100 leaving for the Treasury and immediately coming 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.840 back thanks to the old state legislature rules. 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:32.299 We explored the deep economic reasons behind 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:34.659 the disruption of the Farmer Labor Party in the 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:37.320 1920s and 30s. The rise of the third party. We 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:40.059 unpacked the sneaky strategy of Walter Mondale 00:16:40.059 --> 00:16:42.519 resigning early just to cheat the seniority system 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.399 for his successor. We looked at the agonizing 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.240 high stakes six month empty seat during the 2000. 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:50.759 nine recount, all the way up to the historic 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.200 all -female delegation representing the state 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.360 today. This raises an important question for 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.980 you to consider. We tend to view historical data 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:00.759 as static and dry. But when you look closely, 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.139 a simple list of names and dates actually serves 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:05.779 as a ledger of democratic volatility. A ledger 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:08.579 of democratic volatility. I like that. It tracks 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:10.980 the changing rules of engagement, like the shift 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:13.259 brought on by the 17th Amendment. It tracks the 00:17:13.259 --> 00:17:15.740 cultural shifts of an electorate willing to embrace 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:18.579 third parties during economic hardship. and it 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:21.519 tracks the ever -present maneuvering for institutional 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.539 advantage. It is a living document of how power 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:29.380 is captured, traded, and sometimes lost to unforeseen 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:31.920 tragedy. I really love that phrase, a ledger 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.599 of democratic volatility. And I want to leave 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:36.440 you with a final thought to mull over today. 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.440 Think about the incredible, invisible, strategic 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:43.539 games we've uncovered from the past, resigning 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:45.460 a few days early just to get better committee 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:48.039 assignments. Right. Pausing a Senate term to 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.180 run the Treasury for a few months because your 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:51.980 friends in the state capitol can just hand your 00:17:51.980 --> 00:17:54.920 seat back to you. It's a simple table of historical 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.200 dates reveal so much open manipulation of the 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.480 rules in the past. What invisible strategic games 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:03.160 are currently playing out in the timing of today's 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.140 political retirements and appointments? It's 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.279 a great question. What subtle maneuvers are happening 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.740 right now in 2026 that we won't fully understand 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.039 until there are just dates neatly printed out 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.619 on a Wikipedia page decades from now? It's something 00:18:14.619 --> 00:18:16.559 to think about the next time. see a politician 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.420 suddenly announce an unexpected retirement. Thank 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:21.539 you so much for joining us on this deep dive.