In December, Al Franken resigned from his position in the Senate after eight women accused him of touching them inappropriately over the years, with the accusations dating back to his days as a comedian. His seat was filled by Minnesota’s lieutenant governor Tina Smith, who will now be facing a special election later this year, but this might not really be the end of Franken’s political career. During an interview with a CBS affiliate in Minnesota (via Roll Call), Franken was asked if he’d ever run for office again, to which he responded, “I don’t know. I haven’t ruled it out, and I haven’t ruled it in.”
Part of the reason seems to be that Franken really misses his political career, saying that he “loved that job” and that it was “very meaningful” for him. As Vox notes, though, Franken’s return would be hugely divisive among the Democrat establishment, since a lot of Democratic senators had called for him to resign even as West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin called the move “the most hypocritical thing” he had ever seen happen to someone.