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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Minnesota Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday in the latest victory for an insurgent progressive over the party’s establishment.
Flanagan defeated centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig with a pledge to fight the influence of corporations and confront Republican President Donald Trump.
“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 outcome was another sign of progressive energy among Democratic primary voters. It comes a week after Abdul El-Sayed won a bitter and divisive primary in Michigan that fired up the left and fueled anxiety among party leaders that Democrats will alienate moderate swing voters.
The result was less clear in Tuesday’s primary for Wisconsin governor, where democratic socialist Francesca Hong and moderate David Crowley were in a tight race as of Wednesday morning.
Flanagan will be the front-runner in the general election contest against former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who won the GOP primary Tuesday. Minnesota voters haven’t elected a Republican to a statewide office since 2006.
Still, Republicans are hoping a fraud scandal involving the widespread theft of public funds will give them an opening up and down the ballot.
“We’ve had a crisis of leadership here. We’ve seen what career politicians have done in this state,” Tafoya told reporters after casting her ballot earlier Tuesday in a Minneapolis suburb. “They’ve brought us to a place of national embarrassment, and this state is ready for change.”
Meanwhile, Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for Minnesota governor. Among the candidates she defeated was Mike Lindell, the Trump- endorsed pillow purveyor, who has been among the most persistent advocates of the lie that Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden was fraudulent.
Demuth, the state House speaker, will face U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who defeated six others to win the Democratic nomination.
Race between Craig and Flanagan shaped by ICE, outside spending
In the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, Craig lined up support from Democratic establishment figures including House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as senators from battleground states.
She pointed to her record of winning tough races in a closely divided House district in the suburban Twin Cities, saying she had the experience to bring the change voters are demanding to Washington.
“Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy, and Michele Tafoya would be nothing more than a rubber stamp to his dangerous agenda,” Craig said, previewing the message Democrats will take into November as she conceded and urged her supporters to back Flanagan.
Flanagan was backed by popular progressives including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Smith, who rallied with her in the campaign’s final weeks.
Flanagan highlighted Craig’s support from wealthy donors and blasted her vote for a Trump-backed immigration bill, which became a liability after immigration agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
The race was shaped by the killing of Good and Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, confrontations that were caught on camera and fueled a backlash to Trump’s immigration policies. Flanagan highlighted Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that passed early in Trump’s second term. Craig repudiated her support after Good and Pretti were killed.
U.S. support for Israel and the influence of corporations and wealthy donors also figured prominently in a race that attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending by allies of both women.
“I love that she doesn’t take any corporate money, she doesn’t take any money from AIPAC,” said Andrea Ropella, a Flanagan supporter, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates. “The things that she says, she believes in and she stands for.”
Gov. Tim Walz declined to endorse either candidate, but late last month his wife, Gwen Walz, endorsed Craig over Flanagan, a move seen as a repudiation of her husband’s running mate and governing partner for two terms.
Trump did not endorse a candidate on the Republican side, although Tafoya had support from the national GOP. Adam Schwarze, a Marine veteran and Navy SEAL, had the official backing of the state Republican committee and Royce White had an existing profile as a prior candidate, conservative commentator and a brief professional basketball career.
Lisa Demuth wins GOP governor primary over ‘MyPillow Guy’ Mike Lindell
Republicans had another crowded primary in the race for governor.
Lindell established his national profile from his TV advertising campaign as the “MyPillow Guy.” He has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters and a persistent proponent of myths about the 2020 election. He lost a defamation lawsuit last year and was ordered to pay $2.3 million to a former employee of a voting systems company, whom he called a traitor.
In a post on social media Tuesday morning, Trump said Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN.”
Trump’s endorsement carries enormous weight in GOP primaries, and few of his favored candidates have lost so far this year.
Some prominent Minnesota Republicans worried Lindell was too toxic with independent voters and would drag down the entire GOP ticket. Even state GOP Chairman Alex Plechash raised doubts about Lindell’s electability.
Jim Busche, 79, said he likes Lindell but agrees that he’s probably too controversial to win a general election, so he cast his vote for Demuth.
“I wanted to vote for somebody that at least has a chance,” said Busche, who is retired and lives in Independence.
GOP sees hope despite Minnesota’s long blue streak
No Republican has won a statewide race in Minnesota since Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected in 2006, but the state is more closely divided than that history would suggest.
In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Trump here by only 1.5 points, and in 2024, even with Walz on the ticket, Democrat Kamala Harris won the state by only 4 points.
In the state Legislature, Democrats hold just a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the House is split evenly between the parties.
Republicans think the fraud scandal, which led Walz to abandon his plans to run for a third term, gives them a rare opening to make inroads in an otherwise tough environment for the GOP.
At least 65 people have been convicted in a series of overlapping food fraud cases stemming from investigations that began during the Biden administration. One former nonprofit leader was sentenced in May to 42 years in prison in a $250 million fraud case.
Trump pointed to the scandals as justification for launching a massive immigration crackdown that he initially said would focus on the state’s large Somali community.
Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
