Sen. Al Franken has yet to set his resignation date after announcing last week he would step down, keeping alive speculation that he might reverse course and remain in the Senate for now, especially if Roy Moore is elected in Tuesday’s Alabama Senate race.
The latest call came from Zephyr Teachout, an associate law professor at Fordham University who has run unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Congress and New York governor.
Writing in The New York Times on Tuesday, she said due process was missing from the “hasty call” for Franken’s resignation over allegations of groping and other sexual misconduct.
She said a Senate ethics panel probe into the Minnesota Democrat’s conduct should be allowed to “run its course.”
“Then we’ll know whether his planned resignation was warranted,” she wrote, adding: “New facts may put Senator Franken in a better light, or a far worse one, and we should be open to both.”
The clock is ticking.
For the time being, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is preparing to name a Franken replacement. The Star Tribune reports his likeliest choice is Lt. Gov. Tina Smith. On Friday, the governor said he would name a replacement “in a couple days.”
But some have speculated that Tuesday’s election could change the calculus.
In that race, Republican Roy Moore has faced numerous allegations that he pursued teenage girls when he was in his 30’s. Moore denies them.
If he’s elected, it could provide an opening for Franken to reverse course.
“I think at that point, Franken will renege on his promise, using Moore’s election as his excuse Franken can then play the role of hero,” conservative talk radio host Lars Larson wrote. “… That’s the only sensible explanation I can find for Franken to delay his departure from the Senate.”
In his floor speech last week, Franken said only that he would resign in “the coming weeks.” He also used the address to call out Republicans accused of sexual misconduct and did not admit wrongdoing.
There could be other explanations for Franken delaying his exit – for instance, giving his staff more time to find a new job and the Minnesota governor more time to find an interim replacement senator, as noted by the Cook Political Report.
Franken’s office has not responded to questions from Fox News about why the senator opted to resign in “the coming weeks.”
Fox News’ Judson Berger contributed to this report.
