Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan enters US Senate race after Tina Smith exits
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan posted on X Thursday morning that she hopes to represent the North Star State in Washington D.C., announcing her bid to replace Smith.
Meet Peggy Flanagan: Minnesota Lt. Gov. Flanagan uses platform to highlight Indigenous issues
"I love Minnesota, and my intention is to run for U.S. Senate and continue to serve the people of this state," Flanagan posted to social media.
Flanagan, a DFLer, wrote she intends to make a formal announcement later this month, following conversations with the community, family and friends.
The hopeful Democrat was elected as the state's 50th lieutenant governor in 2018. She is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and is country's highest ranked Native woman to hold an executive office. She's also the first racial minority woman elected to statewide office in Minnesota.
Flanagan, who is from St. Louis Park, graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2002, where she studied American Indian studies and child psychology. She also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2015 until she became lieutenant governor.
Republican Royce White announced his intention to run for the office in 2026. He ran against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in 2024.
Klobuchar won reelection by 16 points against White, but that's a lower victory margin than her 24-point win in 2016. White ran his 2024 campaign on election reform and rhetoric against the transgender community, calling himself further to the right than President Donald Trump.
'I'm...a little further to the right than Donald Trump, a little bit further right than the whole bunch of them,' White said during his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign. 'And for that reason, many of the Republicans here in Minnesota think that I'm unfit or unqualified to be United States Senator, but I think that's exactly what you all need.'
Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Flanagan to run for Minnesota's US Senate seat as Smith steps down
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