Skip to content

Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

Could a Minnesota governor appoint themself to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat? 

Brian Arola, MinnPost
yes

A Minnesota governor can make a temporary appointment to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy, according to state statute, and the law doesn’t prohibit self selection.

State law also doesn’t bar a governor from being appointed by a successor, as happened in 1976. A domino effect leading to this scenario began after Sen. Walter Mondale vacated his seat to become vice president under Jimmy Carter, who had recently been elected. DFL Gov. Wendell Anderson resigned and his successor, Rudy Perpich, appointed Anderson to replace Mondale in the Senate. 

An appointed senator’s term generally lasts until the next scheduled November election. Anderson’s so-called “self appointment” proved to be unpopular, contributing to his loss to Republican Rudy Boschwitz in 1978. That election, in which the DFL lost both U.S. Senate seats and the governor’s office, became known as the Minnesota Massacre.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

See all fact briefs

MinnPost is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces thoughtful, in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota. Through our reporting, we take readers beyond the headlines and deep into the issues that matter through our public-service journalism, empowering them to engage in the politics and policy-making shaping Minnesota’s future.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.