As the primary election day looms closer, the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota is heating up with unexpected intensity.
Peggy Flanagan, currently serving as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is gaining significant momentum bolstered by high-profile endorsements from progressive figures such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, alongside Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ro Khanna.
Nonetheless, Angie Craig, one of Flanagan’s primary adversaries, is determined to maintain her ground. During a debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio on Monday, Craig candidly expressed her frustration over Flanagan’s perceived lack of responsibility regarding the state’s fraud crisis.
“The lieutenant governor, even as we sit here today, continues to take absolutely no accountability for any of the fraud issues, and she continues to blame the governor,” Craig stated emphatically on MPR, further confessing, “I’m going to be honest, it’s p***ing me off.”
Craig asserted her position by adding, “It p***es me off that you completely put all of the responsibility on the governor of Minnesota when you were the number two elected leader in Minnesota during that period of time,” intensifying her critique of Flanagan.
Flanagan claimed that Craig was using ‘Republican talking points’ in her attack.
Craig also shared that ‘Republicans are dying to run against [Flanagan] because they believe that [she has] a unique vulnerability on fraud.’
While Governor Tim Walz has still not weighed in on the race, his wife Gwen Walz backed Craig on Monday.
Angie Craig speaks to constituents during a door-knocking event on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Minneapolis
Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate, speaks during a campaign rally Monday, July 20, 2026, in Minneapolis
‘In an era when everything we hold dear is at stake, we need a nominee who can win statewide—in red counties and blue. And that’s Angie … She has the savvy, the focus, and the work ethic necessary to get the job done and keep this seat blue,’ Gwen Walz shared in her endorsement.
Walz has been mired in a deepening scandal over scams involving state welfare, including payments to daycares and COVID-era loans. The majority of the defendants indicted so far come from the Somali community.
Prosecutors have said that at least 78 people connected with the Feeding Our Future program defrauded the federal government of up to $300 million, falsely claiming reimbursement for meals served to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the largest pandemic relief fraud scheme in American history.
Instead, the defendants allegedly blew the stolen money on Lamborghinis, Porsche SUVs, beachfront property in Kenya, and private villas in the Maldives. The vast majority of those convicted are Somali.
US Attorney Joe Thompson announced in December of last year that investigators had uncovered around $9 billion in federal Medicaid funds stolen from 14 Minnesota programs since 2018. Eighty-two of the 92 defendants – charged across child nutrition, housing services and autism program scams – are Somali.
Minnesota’s US Senate seat is rated ‘likely Democratic’ by the Cook Political Report.
A SurveyUSA poll from last week showed Craig and Flanagan in a tied race with 40 percent of likely primary voters backing each candidate.