Peggy Flanagan wins Minnesota Senate seat, makes history
23 sourcesUpdated Nov 4, 20261 min read
Peggy Flanagan defeated Michele Tafoya for Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat. NBC called the race shortly after midnight with Tafoya down roughly 10 points at 80 percent reporting. Flanagan, 47, Ojibwe of the White Earth Nation, is the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, succeeding Tina Smith. The state has not elected a Republican senator since 2002. Flanagan served two lieutenant-governor terms with Tim Walz since 2019 and ran on Medicare for All, immigration overhaul, and a $17 minimum wage. In her acceptance speech she said the crowd had beat Donald Trump again and sent his private army packing. After voting in St. Louis Park she said she hoped young Native people would see that if Auntie Peggy can do it, they can too. Tafoya conceded by phone and said the voters spoke and would be respected. CONTESTED: Tafoya said only one candidate let $9 billion fly out the door and that consequences for deceiving and robbing the state did not arrive as hoped. Flanagan sought to deflect by arguing Walz led the fraud response. Prosecutors and bipartisan lawmakers said the administration was slow to halt theft of hundreds of millions from safety-net programs. Democrats needed four Senate seats to flip control and gained North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and Iowa.
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Center· 6 sources
“Peggy Flanagan elected to U.S. Senate, holds off challenge from Republican Michele Tafoya”Right· 3 sources
Voters clearly rejected the immigration crackdown, which helped Democrats hold the seat against Tafoya.
The state fraud scandals make this win even more important for cleaning up government accountability.
It's great to see Peggy Flanagan win and become the first Native American woman in the Senate. Minnesota needs that kind of representation.
