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ST. PAUL (AP) -- A former Republican White House lawyer in President George W. Bush's administration and a prominent critic of President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will run as a Democrat for Al Franken's Minnesota Senate seat.
Richard Painter said he plans to challenge Sen. Tina Smith, who was appointed to Franken's seat after his January resignation, in a Democratic primary in August. Painter served as chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 in the Bush administration but has been a visible critic of Trump since his 2016 election, making frequent appearances on CNN, MSNBC and other cable TV networks.
Explaining his party swap, Painter said it's clear to him there's no space for a Republican who opposes the president. And while he rattled off a handful of Democratic positions such as single-payer health care and blocking mining projects in northeastern Minnesota, he said he wouldn't spend campaign money to attack Smith.
He made clear that the primary motivation behind his Senate bid was the president, whose policies he called "autocratic."