Minnesota Progressive Peggy Flanagan Wins Democratic Party Nomination for U.S. Senate Seat

In Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan has won the Democratic Party’s Senate primary, securing about 60% of the vote in a match-up against her better-funded opponent, Congresswoman Angie Craig. Flanagan had the backing of progressives including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who supported her calls for Medicare for All, a higher federal minimum wage, universal childcare and more. She spoke to supporters after polls closed Tuesday evening. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan: “And we are going to stop Donald Trump’s billion-dollar-a-day illegal war in Iran and the crushing gas and fertilizer prices. We are going to fight the corruption, whether it’s in the White House or in the halls of Congress, because the grift has to stop.” Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She could become the first Native American woman to serve in the Senate. Her primary opponent, Angie Craig, was endorsed by Democratic Party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Craig’s campaign outspent Flanagan by a more than four-to-one margin and benefited from nearly $10 million in dark money spent on her behalf. Craig’s loss marks another defeat for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which encouraged its members to support her campaign. Meanwhile, progressive Democrat Matt Little has won the race to fill the congressional seat Craig left to pursue her failed Senate candidacy. Little campaigned on a pledge to support Medicare for All, while seeking to ban corporate money from politics. He defeated two challengers whom he accused of receiving support from AIPAC. www.democracynow.org