Progressive Flank of the Democratic Party Scores Big in Minnesota

On Tuesday, Minnesota’s far-left progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan secured her party’s nomination for a soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Flanagan was declared the victor in her race against Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., after receiving the backing of 59% of primary voters.

“For months now, I have been telling you that this campaign was about the many versus the money,” Flanagan said as she celebrated her victory in Minneapolis. “Well, guess what? The many just won.”

The race comes as a major victory for the far-left progressive flank of the Democratic Party, which has recently secured major wins across the country.

In recent weeks, Abdul El-Sayed became the Democrat nominee for Michigan’s Senate seat after beating Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., by a narrow margin. Also, several Democratic Socialists of America candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, such as Claire Valdez and Aber Kawas, won their primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and the New York Senate.

Flanagan’s Race

Flanagan rose to victory despite being chastised by Republicans and centrists for serving in a governor’s administration that oversaw the federal government’s dismantling of a widespread network of fraud in health care, food assistance, education, and taxpayer-funded programs and grants in Rep. Ilhan Omar’s congressional district.

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Flanagan received several high-profile campaign endorsements from progressives such as Omar and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

In recent months, the far-left candidate continuously campaigned on a platform of progressive priorities, including universal childcare, guaranteed health care, and higher wages.

Her primary opponent, Craig, ran on a campaign of strengthening border security while offering pathways for immigrants, reinforcing support for the LGBTQ+ community, and “standing up to [President] Donald Trump and Republican extremists.”

Craig was endorsed by many high-profile establishment Democrats: former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Jackie Rosen, D-Nev.; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.; New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill; former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Her Challenger

Flanagan will now face 30-year football reporter and Republican nominee Michele Tafoya in the November general election.

Tafoya, who secured the party’s nomination with 52.1% of the vote, is running on a campaign with the issue of fraud front and center.

If she were to win the Senate seat, Tafoya has promised to deport migrants convicted of fraud and “stop treating fraud as a second-class crime,” as stated on her website.

“As our Senator, Michele will fight for tough new mandatory minimum sentences that put fraudsters in federal prison and keep them there,” her website says.

Tafoya has also campaigned on holding state officials accountable for the misuse of federal funds, following “basic audit and recovery practices.”

“Minnesota is in play,” she wrote on X soon after the polls closed. “We have a real opportunity to flip this Senate seat and defeat far-left socialist Democrats in November.”