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Senator-Governor Klobuchar and the Problem of the Received Wisdom

Josh Blackman | 11.6.2026 8:55 AM

[This post is co-authored with Professor Seth Barrett Tillman.]

On November 3, 2026, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota-Democratic Party) was elected Governor of Minnesota. It is expected that, at some point, she will resign her U.S. senate seat, then take up the governor's position, and subsequently make a temporary appointment to fill her then-vacant senate seat. That dance of musical chairs happens from time-to-time. But some have also reported that Klobuchar must resign her senate seat. CBS News quoted political science professor David Schultz (Hamline University, Minnesota): "At some point she's going to have to step down as U.S. [S]enator." That might be true pragmatically—as a matter of politics. And sometimes, federal and state constitutional and statutory law bar dual-officeholding. Sometimes, but not all the time. In these circumstances, the law does not expressly bar dual-officeholding where, as here, the two positions are U.S. Senator and Minnesota Governor.

The U.S. Constitution's Incompatibility Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 2) bars U.S. Senators and Representatives from concurrently holding certain other federal positions.........

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