Peggy Flanagan has been preparing for this kind of race for most of her adult life, even if she didn’t know it. She grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, raised by her mother — a lifelong DFL activist — and eventually became one of the most visible Native American elected officials in the country as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor. She is Ojibwe, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, and if she wins in November 2026, she will be the first Native American woman elected to the United States Senate.
That historical weight is real, and it’s one of the reasons her campaign has generated national attention and small-dollar enthusiasm beyond what a state-level official would typically attract in an open primary. It’s also not, by itself, a Senate majority.
The DFL Primary
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary shapes up as a two-way contest between Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig, who represents Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Flanagan is the more progressive candidate; Craig is the more centrist one. Craig would be the first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the Senate from Minnesota if she wins.
The DFL endorsement process — in which party delegates gather and endorse a candidate before the August primary — will be an early test of where Minnesota’s Democratic establishment sits. Tina Smith, the outgoing senator, endorsed Flanagan. The institutional DFL machinery will matter.
Why the Primary Matters
In a D+4 state with no incumbent, the Democratic nominee’s specific profile matters enormously for the general election. Flanagan’s coalition is more metro-based, more progressive, and more energized by her historic candidacy. Craig’s coalition is more suburban and moderate, potentially with more crossover appeal to the suburban independents who decide close Minnesota elections.
The Iron Range question is the one neither candidate solves cleanly. The northeastern Minnesota mining communities that once formed the backbone of DFL politics have been moving toward Republicans for a decade — the environmental and energy positions of the state and national Democratic Party clash directly with the region’s economic identity. A candidate who can speak credibly to Iron Range workers without abandoning the rest of the DFL coalition is rare, and neither Flanagan nor Craig is obviously that candidate.
The General Election
Minnesota hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1978. That streak has been tested in recent cycles — Trump came within 1.5 points of flipping the state in 2024 — and without an incumbent to defend the seat, the structural advantage that Democrats take for granted is less secure. The Republican nominee (likely Royce White, a former NBA player who lost to Klobuchar in 2024) is not a top-tier candidate, but Minnesota’s Senate race will draw national money regardless of who runs.
What to Watch
The DFL endorsement, the August primary, and whether the Democratic nominee can unite the coalition around a clear economic message that speaks to both the Twin Cities suburbs and the Iron Range communities that DFL candidates keep bleeding. A Democratic coalition that shows up for a historic candidate without a plan for rural Minnesota is a coalition that loses in a bad environment.