Tim Walz Could End Up Facing Off Against An Even More Radical Version Of Himself In Senate Race

Democratic Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced Thursday that she is stepping into the race for the 2026 U.S. Senate seat for Minnesota.

Flanagan, who has promoted various far-left policies in her state, including transgender ideology and abortion, officially launched her campaign for the Senate seat in a social media post. Flanagan’s campaign announcement comes just one week after Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith announced that she would not seek reelection for a second term.

“Today, I’m officially launching my campaign for the U.S. Senate to go to D.C. and speak in a loud and clear voice for ALL of Minnesota,” Flanagan wrote in the post on X.

“Throughout my career, I’ve worked to live up to my name,” Flanagan said in a separate post. “On the school board, in the state house, and as lieutenant governor, I’ve fought for kitchen-table issues that impact children and families.”

In her announcement, Flanagan touted her Native American ancestry, writing, “in Ojibwe, my name means ‘speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.’” Flanagan similarly shared her Native American name while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2024.

“My name in the Ojibwe language is Gizhiiwewidamoonkwe, or in English, ‘speaks with a clear and loud voice woman,’” she told the audience in August. “I’m a member of the White Earth Nation and my family is the Wolf Clan.”

Flanagan helped to establish a new Office of American Indian Health at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in May 2024. The MDH has promoted left-wing causes on its official Instagram account, such as posting content about transgender-identifying youth and preferred pronouns.

Flanagan’s candidacy comes amid reports that Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is considering making his own bid for the open Minnesota Senate seat, though he could also run for reelection as the state’s governor.

Walz repeatedly made inaccurate claims about his past during his failed vice presidential campaign alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced former President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in 2024. The Democratic governor has faced criticism over several of the far-left initiatives he has championed, including signing legislation in 2023 that mandates schools provide tampons in both girls’ and boys’ restrooms, which prompted President Donald Trump and others to refer to him as “Tampon Tim.”

An NPR/PBS/Marist poll released in August after Harris announced Walz as her running mate found that the majority of Americans had never heard of him. Flanagan would have been first in line to replace Walz as Minnesota’s governor if the Harris-Walz campaign had defeated Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Flanagan has served as Minnesota’s 50th lieutenant governor since January 2019, and has been a staunch advocate for abortion and gun control. Flanagan previously claimed that Minnesota is only a good place to live if you are white, and supported rioters who took down a Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota State Capitol during the 2020 George Floyd riots, Fox News reported.

In July 2020, Flanagan claimed that Minnesota’s government was “created” to “eliminate” indigenous people.

“When I walk in the door of the state capitol, I take two breaths … the second breath is a breath of protection, because I know that I am walking into a building that was not created by 🇺🇸US, for 🇺🇸US or with 🇺🇸US. But in too many instances, was created to eliminate, erase and silence 🇺🇸US. And by ‘🇺🇸US,’ I mean people of color and indigenous folks,” Flanagan said in 2020.

“At the center of all her work is making progress for children, working families, communities of color and indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented,” according to Flanagan’s website.

The 2026 Minnesota Senate race is expected to become even more competitive following Smith’s retirement announcement, with Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar is also reportedly considering joining the race. An early analysis of the 2026 Minnesota Senate race by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as “Likely Democrat.”

The Minnesota Senate election will be held on Nov. 3, 2026.

Flanagan’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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