Smith, Tina, 1958-

Christine Elizabeth Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Minnesota since 2018. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and raised in Santa Fe, Smith went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in political science, later earning a master's degree in business administration from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. In 1984, Smith moved to Minnesota for a marketing job at General Mills. She later started her own marketing firm, where she consulted with businesses and nonprofits. Becoming involved in Minneapolis politics, Smith managed the unsuccessful 1998 gubernatorial bid of Ted Mondale and the unsuccessful senatorial bid of former Vice President Walter Mondale in 2002. After a few years working as the vice president of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Smith served as chief of staff to Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.

When Lieutenant Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon announced she would not seek reelection, Dayton selected Smith as his running mate in the 2014 gubernatorial election. Smith stepped down as Dayton's chief of staff to campaign for lieutenant governor. After being nominated by acclamation at the DFL state convention, and facing only token opposition in the DFL gubernatorial primary, Dayton and Smith defeated Republicans Jeff Johnson and Bill Kuisle in the general election. Smith served as Lieutenant Governor from January 2015 until her appointment to fill the vacancy left by Senator Al Franken's resignation. Easily winning the Democratic nomination for the special election to serve the last two years of Franken's term, Smith defeated Republican nominee Karin Housley with 53% of the vote. In 2020, Smith defeated Republican nominee Jason Lewis to win her first full six-year term.