Angie Craig

While it was nearly overshadowed by wild and unpredictable brawls in next-door Michigan and Wisconsin, progressives notched another major primary win in Minnesota on Tuesday. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan soundly defeated moderate congresswoman Angie Craig for the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring U.S. senator Tina Smith. Flanagan ran virtually even with Craig in her Twin Cities suburban base and crushed her in urban Minneapolis and St. Paul, coasting to a landslide win statewide.

Like most of the other 2026 progressive primary winners, Flanagan had to overcome a financial disadvantage, as Craig had crypto, tech, and AIPAC money in her corner. Flanagan was aided to some extent by contributions from her fellow Democratic lieutenant governors. But what really seemed to fuel her campaign was anger at her opponent’s perceived sympathy for ICE and Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, which became a millstone for Craig in the light of last winter’s lethal battles over deportation raids in Minneapolis. Craig tried to hit back by associating Flanagan with Minnesota’s messy social-services-fraud scandal, but it seemed to matter less to Democratic voters than the desire for maximum anti-Trump fury. National political figures were very active in this primary with Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ro Khanna (along with Tina Smith) backing Flanagan and Hakeem Jeffries and Pete Buttigieg (plus Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz) supporting Craig.

Unlike purple-state progressives such as Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, Flanagan begins the general-election campaign as a clear favorite. Republicans nominated former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, but with a national Democratic wave underway and popular U.S. senator Amy Klobuchar leading the ticket as the gubernatorial nominee, things are looking blue for Minnesota.

Klobucher did draw a marginally more viable opponent that she might have, as champion election denier and My Pillow hawker Mike Lindell lost the GOP gubernatorial nomination to state house Speaker Lisa Demuth, despite Donald Trump’s endorsement of his fellow conspiracy theorist. (True to form, Lindell refused to concede, even though he’s down by over 10 percent of the vote with more than 95 percent of the results in.) This outcome adds to Trump’s embarrassing record of 2026 gubernatorial primary losses in Iowa, Georgia, and South Carolina. All in all, it was a good primary evening for anti-Trump militants of every stripe.