Al Franken: ‘It would be tempting’ to run for office again

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Wednesday said “it would be tempting” to run for office again, more than four years after he resigned from the upper chamber amid accusations of sexual misconduct.

Asked during an interview with Washington Post Live if he would ever run again, Franken said “I don’t know,” but did not rule it out.

“I certainly loved my time in the Senate. I loved the job. I got a lot done. I was able to accomplish things I couldn’t accomplish anywhere else, I don’t think. So, yeah, it would be tempting to try to do that again,” he said.

Franken resigned from the Senate in December 2017 amid a pressure campaign from his colleagues to step down after a number of women accused him of sexual misconduct and a photo surfaced that depicted him groping a woman who was sleeping.

The former senator has denied the accusations, arguing that others had remembered the incidents differently.

Franken has said he regrets resigning and seven current or former senators who called for his resignation told The New Yorker in an article published in July 2019 that they regretted doing so. 

Franken told Politico in October that he would not run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who was one of the senators who pressured him to resign amid the sexual misconduct allegations.

Franken moved to New York City’s Upper West Side last year, according to Politico.

In September, Franken said he was “keeping my options open” on whether he would wage a bid for public office in the future.

The former senator launched a 15-stop comedy tour in September.

This story was updated at 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 14.