Flanagan defeats Tafoya by wide margin

REGIONAL- Minnesota Democrat Peggy Flanagan made history Tuesday as the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Michele Tafoya to win the seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith.
Flanagan received 1,520,864 votes statewide, or 53.71 percent, to Tafoya’s 1,233,460 votes, or 43.56 percent. Her support was stronger in St. Louis County, where she collected 59,589 votes, or 59.53 percent, to Tafoya’s 37,254 votes, or 37.22 percent.
Flanagan, a member of White Earth Nation and Minnesota’s two-term lieutenant governor, campaigned on lowering costs, expanding public services, and challenging President Donald Trump. She supports Medicare for All, universal child care, and raising the minimum wage to $17 an hour.
In her victory speech in St. Paul, Flanagan said voters had delivered a message to the president.
“You said no more war. No more health care cuts. No more taking away food from children and seniors,” she said.
Flanagan also promised during the campaign to “rip ICE apart” following the deployment of some 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota earlier this year that left two Americans citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, dead.
Republicans sought to make the race a referendum on fraud in state-run programs under Gov. Tim Walz, an issue that helped push him out of a bid for a third term. Flanagan denied responsibility for failing to stop the fraud sooner, pointing to Walz’s statement that accountability rested with him.
Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter and conservative podcaster, presented herself as an independent thinker willing to challenge Trump. Polls largely showed a close race heading into Election Day. Minnesota has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 2002.
For Native Americans, Flanagan’s victory carries significance beyond the election itself. Just four enrolled tribal members have served in the Senate, all men. Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola could join Flanagan if she wins her race.
White Earth Chairman Michael Fairbanks and other Native men played a victory song at Flanagan’s election night gathering. Fairbanks said her success was monumental for the tribe and its efforts to protect natural resources from mining.
“This really means a lot for White Earth,” he said.
As lieutenant governor, Flanagan helped reshape Minnesota’s relationship with its 11 tribal nations. The Walz-Flanagan administration expanded consultation with tribal leaders, restored thousands of acres of land, protected tribal gambling interests, and established the state’s first Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.
Her victory followed a difficult stretch that included public tensions with Walz after his 2024 vice presidential campaign and a tough Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Angie Craig.
The Minnesota Reformer contributed to this article.