Flanagan wins DFL Senate endorsement but faces primary challenge
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Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is the DFL-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Delegates at the party convention in Rochester enthusiastically endorsed her by acclamation on Saturday afternoon.
“I am deeply humbled and grateful to earn the support of DFLers all across Minnesota who believe that my leadership is what this moment demands," Flanagan said.
Months ahead of the party convention, the endorsement was shaping up to be one of the bigger battles of the 2026 election year, but Rep. Angie Craig announced days before the convention she’d skip the convention and take the race to the primary.
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“This DFL endorsement process matters because it's one of the few places in politics where grassroots organizing matters more than money," Flanagan said, getting loud cheers.
Sen. Tina Smith, whose seat Flanagan is running for, stood on stage to endorse her.
“Minnesotans, I know what this job takes,” Smith said. “We are ready for leaders that demand change, and that is why there is no better leader for this moment than Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.”
Flanagan has served as lieutenant governor during Gov. Tim Walz’s two terms starting in 2019. Before that she was a member of the Minnesota House and the Minneapolis School Board.
A member of the White Earth Nation, Flanagan would be the first Native American U.S. Senator for Minnesota.
Flanagan had focused her message on affordability, access to health care, and fighting against corporate interests in Washington.
Craig said the endorsement process “just doesn’t reflect the full scope of the party that we are and the purple state that we have become.” During her announcement, she said, “The only way we save democracy is through democracy, where every voice is heard, not just a few.”
That move was not popular among many of the DFL faithful in Rochester.
