 On November 22, 2017, Schoen announced he would resign on December 15, 2017.The special election garnered much attention given that the Republicans controlled the Senate only by a single seat as well as a legal question of whether a Republican senator should remain in the Senate.Senator Michelle Fischbach was the subject of a lawsuit challenging her ability to remain in the Senate after she became lieutenant governor in early January 2018 when DFL Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith resigned to be appointed to the U.S. Senate.