U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders was in Minneapolis Monday to rally support for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s campaign for U.S. Senate. The rally also featured other prominent Democrats who back Flanagan as she takes on Congresswoman Angie Craig in the DFL primary.
“I’m so proud and excited to be here with my friends,” Flanagan told the crowd. “With Sen. Tina Smith, with Attorney General Keith Ellison, and with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and of course, Sen. Bernie Sanders.”
Addressing the room, Flanagan criticized Craig for voting for a law that gave ICE greater authority to arrest illegal aliens. Flanagan also said Craig voted to send billions of dollars to Israel and has been supported by the crypto industry and healthcare industry during her career.
“Who is [Craig] fighting for?” Flanagan asked the crowd. “I know who I’m fighting for. I’m fighting for the mom standing at the checkout counter trying to stretch twenty bucks through the end of the month.”
Flanagan, who said she is also fighting for nurses and immigrant families, told the gathered crowd she backs Medicare for All, universal child care, a national paid family and medical leave law, and she supports “ripping ICE apart and holding them accountable.”
Ellison, Omar, Smith, and Sanders also spoke at the almost 90-minute rally.
In his remarks, Ellison said the campaign between Flanagan and Craig is “truly a fight of the money versus the many. We are the many and we will beat the money and we will prevail against them.”
The attorney general was no doubt referring to Craig’s significant cash advantage over Flanagan. Campaign finance reports from this month showed Craig had over $5 million in cash on hand as of June 30 while Flanagan had just $1.56 million.
In recent weeks, pro-Craig advertisements have blanketed Minnesota airwaves. Ellison referred to those ads as “garbage” in his speech.
The attorney general was interrupted during his remarks by hecklers who appeared to call on Ellison to reopen the recently-closed Conviction Review Unit. That unit, which was a part of Ellison’s office and examined claims of wrongful conviction, was shut down this month due to “budgetary constraints.”
After the interruption, Ellison quickly transitioned to introducing Omar and left the stage.
Subsequently, Omar described Flanagan as “the working-class champion this moment demands,” and Smith said she “would move hell or high water to make sure Flanagan is the next senator from Minnesota.”
Smith currently occupies the Senate seat Flanagan and Craig are seeking. Last year, Smith announced she would not seek reelection in 2026 and has since endorsed Flanagan.
Sanders eventually took the stage, saying, “You know, as Peggy and Ilhan and Keith and Tina have said, they got the money, we have the people. That is in a nutshell of what this campaign is about.”
In his speech, Sanders described the current campaign finance system as “corrupt” and said “we got to move toward public funding of elections.” He also criticized billionaires, the Iran war, and described President Donald Trump as an “authoritarian” and “narcissist.”
Speaking about Flanagan, Sanders said, “Peggy is going to stand up to the greed of the billionaire class and fight for working families. And the agenda that Peggy is fighting for is the agenda of the American people.”
Three weeks from today Minnesota Democrats will choose who they want as their party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in the November general election. For months, the primary has been a bitter contest between Flanagan and Craig.
Flanagan has positioned herself as the most progressive candidate in the race in an appeal to the DFL’s left-wing base. Earlier this year, Flanagan was endorsed by the Minnesota DFL after Craig decided to skip the endorsement process and run in the August primary.
Monday’s rally was a demonstration of Flanagan’s strong support among the DFL’s far-left flank. In addition to winning Sanders’ endorsement, Flanagan has also been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren who held a rally with Flanagan last year. Warren will be in Minnesota again this week for another rally with Flanagan.
Meanwhile, Craig has received support from Democrats who are viewed as more moderate such as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Craig has argued she is more electable than Flanagan and better equipped to take on Republican Michele Tafoya in the general election.
Tafoya is running the Republican U.S. Senate primary against retired Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze and former NBA player Royce White. Schwarze won the Republican endorsement for the Senate seat at the GOP convention in May.
The DFL and GOP primaries for U.S. Senate will take place on Aug. 11. However, early voting is already underway.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
