Here’s what will happen to Franken's Senate seat once he leaves office, according to Minnesota election law.
1. Governor appoints a new senator
Gov. Mark Dayton would appoint a new senator to fill Franken’s seat, when he resigns, Ryan Furlong, a spokesman for the Minnesota secretary of state’s office, told Fox News.
A Democrat, Minnesotans could expect Dayton to appoint a member of his own party.
The newly-appointed senator would be in office until at least Nov. 2018 when a special election would be scheduled. The appointed senator would not be obligated to run in that election.
Minnesota is one of 36 states where a governor will make an appointment to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy, according to the
National Conference of State Legislatures.
2. A special election is scheduled for November 2018
A special election would be scheduled for Nov. 2018 – and the winner would remain in the Senate for the remainder of what was Franken's term. That ends in Jan. 2021.
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If a Senate vacancy occurs less than 11 weeks before Minnesota’s state primary in August 2018, then whoever the governor would appoint to the vacancy would remain until the next election, which is Nov. 2019, Furlong said.
3. The next full term begins in 2021
Whoever wins the special election in 2018 would also have to run again in 2020 – if he or she so chooses – in order to serve a full six-year term, Furlong said.
The next full Senate term would then begin in 2021.