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- By Levi Rickert
Native Vote. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (Ojibwe), a Democrat, officially announced her candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota on Thursday with the launch of the Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate website.
Last week, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2026 midterm election. On the same day, Flanagan expressed her intention to run for the open seat. Then, on Friday, February 14, she formally filed her candidacy for the Senate.
On Thursday, Flanagan issued the following statement on social media:
"I’m officially launching my campaign to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate!
Growing up, my family relied on government assistance programs like Section 8 housing and free and reduced lunch — even though my mom worked full-time in healthcare.
My lived experience has informed my belief that we should wrap our arms around our neighbors in need. That’s why on the school board, in the state house, and as lieutenant governor, I’ve championed kitchen-table issues like raising the minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and free school meals.
Now, I’m running to take Minnesota values to D.C. — but I need your help. A Native American woman has never won a seat in the U.S. Senate before. I believe we can change that. Are you with me?”
If elected, Flanagan, a tribal citizen of the White Earth Nation, would become the first Native American female U.S. senator in history. Currently, Sen. MarkWayne Mullin (R-OK) is the only Native American senator serving in the U.S. Senate. The only other two Native American U.S. senators were Sen. Charles Curtis (Kaw Nation), who served in the U.S. Senate from 1915-1929 representing Oklahoma, and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne), who served from 1993 - 2005.
Flanagan is Minnesota’s 50th lieutenant governor and currently the country’s highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office. As lieutenant governor, Flanagan co-chairs the work of the Young Women’s Initiative to center the voices of young women in the work of state government. She also works to address homelessness as the chair of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness.
She also serves as chair of the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB) and chair of the Advisory Committee on Capitol Area Security (ACCAS).
Flanagan earned her bachelor’s degree in American Indian studies and child psychology in 2002 from the University of Minnesota. She then went on to serve on the Minneapolis Board of Education from 2005 to 2009. Not long after, she started working at Wellstone Action, the organization founded to carry on the work of the late Senator Paul Wellstone, for nearly a decade. As one of the original trainers of Wellstone Action’s signature program Camp Wellstone, she trained thousands of organizers, elected officials, and candidates including the now Governor Tim Walz.
Following her work at Wellstone Action, Flanagan served as the executive director of Children’s Defense Fund - Minnesota, a non-profit child-advocacy organization working to level the playing field for all children in Minnesota.
Flanagan was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2015 to serve her home community of St. Louis Park, as well as Golden Valley, Plymouth, and Medicine Lake.
She was elected by her peers in December 2023 to chair the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA), making her the first Native American woman to ever chair a national political committee. She was also named co-chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Peggy lives in St. Louis Park with her husband, Tom, her daughter, Siobhan, and their dog, Reuben. She is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota!
You can learn more and donate at peggyflanagan.com!
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