Tina Smith — Democrat Candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, 2026

Senator Tina Smith opposes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and advocates for reforms to address unlawful enforcement actions. She believes federal agents should not randomly detain U.S. citizens or enter homes without warrants, citing the need to protect constitutional rights. Smith called the decision not to fund ICE "a great place to start."

“Well, let's start from the idea that these federal agents who are part of ICE and customs and border control should not be allowed to just randomly detain and arrest U.S. citizens. Let's start from the fact that they should not be allowed to barge into, breakdown the doors of people's homes and cart them off with no warrant." - Sen. Tina Smith (PBS NewsHour)”

Senator Tina Smith supports healthcare reforms, stating that healthcare is a personal issue focused on family health and affordable access to care, not politics. She has criticized legislative proposals that do not address concerns about rising health insurance premiums, advocating against choices that force Americans between escalating healthcare costs or cuts to nutrition programs. She believes in pursuing better solutions for accessible and affordable healthcare.

“The best time to fix this was weeks ago, but the next best time is right now. And we can do better than say to America that you have two choices. One choice is skyrocketing health insurance premiums or the other choice is decimating the nutrition programs that help people put groceries on the table. That is not a real choice. That is not the choice that I will accept. We can do better than that.”

Senator Tina Smith supports the Paris Agreement and emphasizes protecting land, water, and air, while promoting clean energy job growth. As a member of the Senate Energy Committee, she has prioritized environmental safeguards and helped pass significant climate legislation. She also actively works to defend the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from mining and supports maintaining established protections for public lands.

““We are a nation of laws. The protections that we have put in place with the Boundary Waters, like all public lands, were done by the book following the orders laid out in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act,” said Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat. “What’s happening right now is that Congressman Stauber and Republicans are using an unprecedented tool, a never before used gambit claiming that Congress can claw back the protections for public lands, our lands, without any of the normal procedures and processes. If this effort is successful, we all need to understand big corporations and their friends in Congress will be looking for where they can next go to exploit our public lands for their profit and our loss.””

Tina Smith supports reproductive rights and access to abortion, emphasizing that individuals should control their own bodies and lives. She believes that when politicians make healthcare decisions, negative consequences ensue, viewing this as a fundamental question of freedom. She has a voting record including "Yea" votes on legislation related to these rights and previously worked at Planned Parenthood.

““The Dobbs decision, as terrible as it was, flipped something in people’s brains about whether or not we really think as a country that people should have control over their own bodies and their own lives,” Smith said. “We saw when you lose that ability to make your own decisions about your healthcare and your body and your lives and abortion, and you have politicians making those decisions, bad things happen. Women get sick and die. People lose their lives. People lose their ability to control their own destiny. And so my view is that we need to continue pushing that. It’s a fundamental question of freedom.” (Tina Smith, Reproductive Freedom for All, Feb 13, 2026)”

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Research pending more substantial sources.

Senator Tina Smith supports reforms to address gun violence, stating her aim is to enhance safety in schools, communities, and places of worship. She co-sponsors legislation to expand background checks, ban the sale of bump stocks, assault weapons, and high-capacity magazines. Additionally, she works to prohibit firearms for individuals convicted of stalking and emphasizes that she does not accept contributions from the NRA.

“It is people who care about Second Amendment rights, the outrage that I have heard from Minnesota gun owners who've said, wait a minute, this man was carrying, lawfully carrying, a firearm as a Second Amendment right, and you're saying that he could be killed for that?" - Sen. Tina Smith, PBS Newshour.”