MN Patch Candidate Profile: Peggy Flanagan For U.S. Senate

ST. LOUIS PARK, MN — Minnesota voters will head to the polls Nov. 3 to decide races for U.S. Senate, governor, and other state and federal offices.

Minnesota Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the DFL nominee, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Tina Smith, who is not seeking reelection. Her opponent is Republican Michele Tafoya.

Editor's note: Patch is awaiting a response from Republican Michele Tafoya.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan:

Age: 47

Position sought: United States Senate

Party affiliation: Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL)

City of residence: St. Louis Park

Family: Husband, Tom Weber; one teenaged daughter

Education: University of Minnesota

Occupation: Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Previous or current elected or appointed office: Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, Minnesota State House; Minneapolis School Board

Campaign website: peggyflanagan.com

Campaign social media: facebook.com/peggyflanaganMN; instagram.com/peggyflanagan; x.com/peggyflanagan; threads.com/@peggyflanagan; tiktok.com/discover/peggy-flanagan; youtube.com/@PeggyFlanaganforMN

Why are you seeking elected office?

I’m running for the United States Senate to help people afford the lives they want to live. I’m someone who grew up on the margins, feeling like the bottom could fall out at any moment. I know firsthand that government can improve people’s lives and give them a solid foundation, and now I get to pay that back and pay that forward through public service. Everywhere I go, I hear from people who are working hard, budgeting, sacrificing, and doing everything right, but they’re still falling behind.

That’s why I’ll fight to end prior authorization so some dude behind a desk – or even worse, an AI bot – can’t deny care your doctor prescribed, and fight to pass Medicare for All. I’ll take on the greedy corporations and billionaires who have far too much power in Washington. And I’ll hold ICE accountable and fight for an immigration system grounded in public safety, dignity, due process and a pathway to citizenship.

The single most pressing issue facing Minnesotans is affordability, and this is what I intend to do about it:

Donald Trump ran on lowering costs and ending wars. Now he’s dragged us into a new war that has already cost taxpayers more than $40 billion, and it’s driving up costs for everyone. On top of that, his reckless tariffs are raising prices and threatening Minnesota farmers and businesses. Trump has cost Minnesota far too much already.

I’ll fight to make our government deliver for working people in ways they can really see and feel in their lives. That means passing Medicare for All so people can actually get health care, not just pay for health insurance. It’s raising the federal minimum wage and indexing it to inflation, because one good job should be enough. It’s universal childcare, so parents don’t have to choose between their careers and caring for their children. It’s building housing working families can afford and banning Wall Street from buying up entire neighborhoods. And it’s giving farmers the right to repair their own equipment. All of these efforts will put money back in Minnesotans’ pockets and get us closer to the future we deserve.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Right now, too many of our elected officials are beholden to corporations, special interests and the billionaires behind them. I’m the only candidate in this race not taking a dime of corporate PAC money because I want Minnesotans to know I only answer to them.

Michele Tafoya would be just another loyal soldier for Donald Trump. She supports his ICE and mass deportation agenda. She defended January 6th rioters who attacked police officers and tried to overturn a free and fair election. She claims to be pro-choice, but celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, committed to confirming anti-abortion Supreme Court justices, and supports a new abortion ban. And she supports Trump’s reckless tariffs and supported his illegal war in Iran – both of which are hurting farmers and business owners and raising prices for Minnesotans.

We don’t need a senator fighting for what Trump wants – we need a senator who will fight for what Minnesota families need.

What would you do differently from the current officeholder?

Senator Tina Smith has long been a role model and dear friend, and I’m honored to have her endorsement. She’s been a champion for Minnesota – from affordable housing to Tribal nations and Native communities to making sure our family farms can keep feeding our communities – and I’ll build on that work. Like Tina, I want to serve on the Agriculture, Indian Affairs, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committees so I can keep fighting for our family farms, our Tribal Nations, and housing working families can afford.

What I’ll bring that’s different is my perspective. There are only four moms with kids under the age of 18 serving in the U.S. Senate. I’m the mom of a teenage daughter, and while I’m not running to make history, I’d be the first Native American woman ever to serve in the Senate. Washington works better when it reflects the people it represents.

I’d also like to join the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, where Tina used to serve. That’s where I can bring the fights I’ve led my whole career – at the Children’s Defense Fund, in the Legislature and as Lt. Governor – to Washington: improving working conditions, health care and education for people across the state and country. The same organizing that won paid family and medical leave and free school meals in Minnesota is how we’ll win Medicare for All, federal paid family and medical leave and universal childcare. Just like Tina, I’m an organizer.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My whole campaign is about helping people afford the lives they want to live. Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing: life is too expensive. Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs, his illegal war in Iran and his big, ugly bill are driving up costs, and in Trump’s America, working people are forced to pay more while he enriches himself from the Oval Office.

Life shouldn’t be this hard, and it’s not by accident. It’s the result of a broken political system that gives wealthy interests more power than working people. That’s why I’ll fight to ban corporate money in elections, overturn Citizens United, restore the independent watchdogs Trump fired, and prevent all three branches of government from trading stocks. Public office should be about serving people – not getting rich.

While I fight for Medicare for All, I’ll work to lower the cost of all prescription drugs and restore Medicaid cuts that threaten coverage for 170,000 Minnesotans and push our rural hospitals to the brink. I’ll protect Social Security and eliminate the tax on benefits, and codify access to abortion.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

My life taught me what’s possible when people are given a fair shot. I’ve spent my career fighting and delivering for Minnesotans so they have the same opportunities I did – on the Minneapolis School Board, at the Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota, in the Minnesota House, and now as Lieutenant Governor.

When my daughter was a baby on my hip, I helped lead the fight to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation, and I co-founded the fight for paid family and medical leave. As Lt. Governor, we passed paid family and medical leave, delivered free school meals, a nation-leading Child Tax Credit, and an emergency insulin program. These were moonshot ideas when we first started fighting for them – and we got it done. I’m ready to do it again in Washington.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My mom and aunties taught me to always do the next good thing. I grew up feeling like the bottom could fall out at any moment. My single mom needed SNAP, Medicaid and Section 8 housing to get by, and those programs gave us solid ground to stand on. Child care assistance made it possible for her to go back to school. I remember watching her walk across the stage in her blue cap and gown after getting her phlebotomy degree from St. Kate’s so she could help lift our family into the middle class. I’m here because of those investments, not in spite of them, and doing the next good thing means paying that back and paying it forward through public service.

The other advice that’s given me the courage to take on the biggest fights comes from my political hero, the late Senator Paul Wellstone: “Sometimes you’ve got to pick a fight to win one.” Right now, that fight is standing up to Donald Trump, who has cost Minnesota far too much already. Michele Tafoya will fight for Trump. I’ll fight for you.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

The positions I take and the policies I fight for are guided by Minnesotans. I’ve held more than 300 events in 112 communities all across this state. Minnesotans have trusted me with the truth about their lives, what they’re up against, and what brings them hope.

You do not have to agree with me on every issue for me to fight for you. Whether you are a Democrat, an independent, or a Republican, I will be a senator for all Minnesotans – one who never forgets who she works for or where she comes from. How I’m campaigning now is exactly how I will govern: I will keep showing up, and when I go to Washington, I’m not going alone. I’m bringing Minnesotans with me.