Minnesota Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan won her Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, marking yet another win for progressive candidates over more moderate ones.
She was challenged by Rep. Angie Craig, who has a more moderate stance on most issues. Flanagan, meanwhile, is a progressive with strong ties to Democratic activist groups.
Immigration enforcement was a major topic of the race after Immigration and Customs Enforcement was ordered to Minneapolis earlier this year to conduct deportations and detentions. It led to large protests in freezing weather that at times became violent, with federal officials shooting and killing two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The results of Tuesday’s primary were clear, with Flanagan securing 59% of the vote compared to Craig’s 39%.
Flanagan will be the front-runner in the general election contest against former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya, who won the GOP primary. Voters in the state haven’t elected a Republican to a statewide office in 20 years, but the race could be close, with pre-primary polling showing both Flanagan and Craig with 47% to Tafoya’s 40%.
However, Republicans are hopeful that a major fraud scandal at the state level will boost their chances to see a GOP candidate replace Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat who is retiring.
In the Democratic primary, Craig was able to secure the endorsements of other traditional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Flanagan, however, was backed by progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
While Flanagan’s race is the latest in a string of progressive wins in states like New York, Michigan and Colorado, this race was heavily focused on anger at the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Flanagan highlighted how in the House, Craig voted for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that was passed early in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Craig faced fallout during her campaign for voting in early 2025 for the bill, which mandates federal detention for immigrants in the country illegally who are charged with certain crimes.
After Good and Pretti’s deaths, she later publicly apologized and said she regretted the vote, but it’s something Flanagan and her team tried to remind voters of ahead of voting.
Gov. Tim Walz did not endorse either candidate, but last month, his wife, Gwen Walz, endorsed Craig, which was seen as a controversial choice by Flanagan’s team; Flanagan had been his running mate and governing partner for two terms before Walz announce he wouldn’t be running for reelection amid the fraud scandal, The Associated Press reported.
Flanagan’s win further boosts the growing consensus that a sizable amount of Democratic primary voters are pivoting to the left, but not all progressives were successful Tuesday.
Wisconsin State Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, lost her battle against moderate David Crowley in the state’s gubernatorial contest, but only by razor-thin margins.