By J. Patrick Coolican | Editor-in-chief
Good morning, Reformers,
Go get your second coffee — lots to say!
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan framed the November election perfectly during her Tuesday night victory speech at First Avenue after a landslide win against U.S. Rep. Angie Craig:
“Michele Tafoya was all-in with Trump when ICE was terrorizing our neighbors…. The last thing this country needs is to give Donald Trump another ‘Yes, sir’ senator.’”
With Trump’s approvals in the 30s and his orange visage shadowing the American landscape, with the killers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti still free, that’s going to be a powerful message in the fall.
She didn’t just go negative, however, as Flanagan, who would be America’s first Native woman in the U.S. Senate, also sought to inspire and energize: “There's nothing more powerful than millions of Minnesota voices calling out for change."
Flanagan’s Ojibwe name is Gizhiiwewidamikwe — “speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.”
She will be flush with small donations, and she gets to run with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the state’s most formidable vote-getter.
That said, Tafoya, the GOP nominee, was a good recruit. She has name recognition due to her sports broadcasting days, and money, and they’ll hit Flanagan hard for her tenure as lieutenant governor in an administration that has overseen the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in government money.
Some other takeaways from Tuesday night.
Politicos too often think of the electorate as static, while voters are more like a river that can change rapidly due to heavy rains or even what geologists apparently call an avulsion, when a river cuts a new channel.
Consider what Minnesotans and Minnesota Democrats have lived through since 2018: A pandemic; the murder of George Floyd and the aftermath; Jan. 6; the rise and disappointments of Gov. Tim Walz; a second Trump term; and then, most importantly, Operation Metro Surge.
Add to that: Gen Z, a generation of people who lived through all that trauma — an overused word, but legit in this case — have joined the electorate. They have zero f’s to give.
Reformer reporter Madi McVan kept predicting a big DFL turnout activated by Operation Metro Surge. She was right. The DFL Senate vote total was about 700,000 voters. The 2018 DFL governor’s race primary total was about 583,000, which was a big number!
So, if you thought Tuesday night’s DFL primary would be anything like 2018 — which I’ve referred to a few times in the past couple weeks — you’d have been badly wrong. The DFL-endorsed progressive in the race won the most expensive primary in state history, beating Craig despite being badly outspent.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan took the stage at the First Avenue rally on July 20, 2026. (Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer)
You could argue that the DFL Senate race was over the minute Craig voted for the Laken Riley Act. It was always going to be framed as capitulation to Trump’s cruel mass deportation agenda, and then Operation Metro Surge hammered the point home. Paradoxically, she probably felt she had to vote that way in early 2025 — before Sen. Tina Smith announced her retirement — to save her own House seat after Trump’s win, which was based partly on Dems’ immigration weakness. (But see #1 — the 2024 electorate is not the 2026 electorate.)
New politics v. old politics: There’s lots of ways to reach people these days, so if you’re a good communicator, and Flanagan surely is, you can overcome a TV and digital ad blitz. This is great! Not so long ago, crypto cash felt like the latest polluted wave that would dirty up the shores of American politics. Maybe not — they spent heavily on Craig’s behalf. By the same token, however, Mike Lindell’s loss is proof that you still actually need to run a campaign. As Politico notes here, he didn’t spend a dime on TV or digital ads.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth showed herself to be real competition against Klobuchar. Here’s Michelle Griffith’s writeup of her victory. They’re both the first woman nominees of their parties and Demuth is the first Black Minnesotan to be nominated for governor. Demuth ran a disciplined campaign. Expect the same in the fall. She’s still likely to be badly outspent, and she’s still a big underdog, but Republican voters gave their party a fighting chance to at least limit the loss of legislative seats.
There is real anger and disappointment at Democrats’ governance, but probably not enough to reverse the anti-Trump momentum, especially since Klobuchar is already separating herself from Walz.
Plus, my number one rule of Minnesota politics: There are more Democrats than Republicans.
The Wellstone Senate seat stays in the hands of his ideological successors; heck, Flanagan worked at Camp Wellstone. As Max said, never underestimate Smith, whose endorsement of Flanagan to succeed her was crucial and presaged help from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
What an embarrassment for Trump, whose endorsement didn’t translate into victory for Lindell, whose name I’d love to never hear again.
Tough to beat an incumbent legislator in a primary: Incumbents hung on to their seats. DFL Sen. Ron Latz easily won out against what was thought to be a strong primary challenge from Lynette Lungay Dumalag.
Rep. Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley also won a close call in her Brooklyn Park district, winning by 7 points over Wynfred Russell, a former City Council member backed by the district’s senator, Susan Pha. (Pha handily won her primary against Nehemiah Garley, who was backed by Momanyi-Hiltsley. Some weird beef going on. Would love to know more.)
None of my anonymous pundits picked every race correctly, though one Republican came closest, only missing Latz’s primary win. Kalshi’s odds were dead on.
More Reformer coverage:
By Atra Mohamed, Brian Martucci, Ella Stern, Madison McVan, Michelle Griffith, Ria Gupta
Our primary and Election Day interviews never disappoint. People are often badly misinformed, but we love them. I promise you’ll be entertained.
Thanks to freelancers Atra, Brian and Ella for their work, and good luck to intern Ria Gupta!
By Madison McVan
Little is the former two-term mayor of Lakeville who represented the area in the state Senate from 2016 to 2020, when he lost to a Republican. He won the DFL endorsement in the primary and presented himself as a more progressive successor to Rep. Angie Craig, who left the state’s most competitive congressional district for a Senate bid.
“This win proves that even $3.5 million dollars of outside money couldn’t buy this election,” Little said in a statement. “It proves people believe real change is possible; that if we are bold and brave, we will stop Trump’s corruption, we will hold ICE accountable, and we will make life affordable, so the American dream is real for everyone!”
He’ll face state Sen. Eric Pratt in the fall, in what has traditionally been Minnesota’s most competitive congressional district, but maybe not in a year like this.
IN OTHER NEWS
Flanagan’s victory speech | KARE’s YouTube page
Left-wing Hong loses Wisconsin primary | Wisconsin Examiner
He was deported to a country he’d never heard of. He may never go free | New York Times Magazine gift link
Rep. John Larson loses Connecticut primary | CT Mirror
Little sign of breakthrough in Iran talks | Bloomberg gift link
OH BY THE WAY
Big thanks to Reformer staff who worked hard during the long primary campaign, especially Max and Michelle and Madi last night, and photographer Nicole Neri. Support our work if you can.
Our four year old is into this apparently famous song, so it was fun blasting it through the neighborhood on the bike yesterday.
Have a great day all! JPC
Thanks for reading Daily Reformer. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.