Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan introduced Senator Bernie Sanders at First Avenue in Minneapolis at a rally. Photo by Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Reformer Monday July 20, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota Reformer) — U.S. Rep. Angie Craig recently derided Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, her rival in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, by saying America doesn’t need another Bernie Sanders in Congress.
The thousand people who packed into First Avenue Monday night to hear Sanders campaign for Flanagan loudly disagreed.
Sanders’ Monday rally in downtown Minneapolis is his second time stumping for Flanagan, continuing his nationwide barnstorming to support progressive candidates here and in Michigan, Maine and New York.
“Progressives have been defeating establishment candidates all over this country,” Sanders said, while equating the battle against ICE to the monied financial interests backing Flanagan’s opponent.
“We thanked you in the past for when you stood up to ICE. We’re going to thank you this time for standing up to the super PACs,” he said.
The choice between Craig and Flanagan is clear, according to Sanders, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Attorney General Keith Ellison, who also spoke at the event dubbed “The Many over the Money.”
It’s a choice between Craig’s preference for small steps and Flanagan’s call for great leaps: passing Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, ending military aid to Israel, raising taxes on billionaires, increasing the minimum wage, banning corporate campaign spending and breaking up Big Tech.
Minnesota’s Sanders fans — clad in merch with their favorite hits: “Pro America Anti Billionaire,” “F*** ICE,” and never to be forgotten, “Bernie 2016” — needed little convincing.
Minnesota Democrats, Flanagan said, “are sick and tired of Democrats bending to Republicans and fighting from a defensive crouch.”
The contentious contest between Flanagan and Craig, which will be decided on Aug. 11, embodies the longstanding debate in the Democratic Party over how far left or right to move to win back voters after another bruising election that put President Trump back in the White House and gave Republicans control of Congress.
Their primary is attracting national funding in the fight for the future of the party and could be one of the most expensive in Minnesota history.
Craig has outraised Flanagan by two-to-one, having brought in $12 million in contributions since the start of the race to Flanagan’s $6 million through June 30.
Millions more are pouring in from outside groups in support of Craig, underwriting a barrage of digital and television ads.
Flanagan has looked to turn Craig’s immense fundraising into a liability, charging Craig with being beholden to the special interests funding her campaign.
“We know that they are spending on ads that you’ve seen to try to tear me down to buy the seat for Congresswoman Craig, but here’s the deal: They know that she will do their bidding, and I won’t,” Flanagan said.
Craig, who says she supports banning corporate campaign donations, counters that Democrats can’t unilaterally disarm if they want to beat Republicans. She warns the $4.6 million haul from Michele Tafoya — a retired sportscaster and Republican candidate for Senate — is just a prologue to millions more coming in for the general election.
Craig has also sought to muddy the waters in the debate over campaign fundraising purity by pointing to contributions made to the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, a political action committee backing Flanagan, including from the pharmaceutical industry and ICE contractor CoreCivic.
Craig is selling herself to voters as a pragmatist whose policy prescriptions can’t neatly fit on a T-shirt.
When she said the Senate doesn’t need another Sanders, she also said, “I’m more about results than I am about rhetoric. I think we need a workhorse in the Senate, not a show horse.”
While Craig has a track record of beating Republicans — having flipped Minnesota’s most competitive congressional seat and holding it through several tough election cycles — her hawkish votes on border security and immigration that may have helped her hold a swing district have hurt her standing with the Democratic base who turn out to vote in primaries.
Flanagan again hammered Craig Monday for being the only Minnesota Democrat to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act, the first bill signed by President Trump in his second term. It mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes. Craig has since said she regrets the vote.
Rallygoers who lined the sidewalk around First Avenue said concerns over Flanagan’s electability against a well-funded Republican candidate were the farthest thing from their minds.
“This is our time,” said Rosalinda Strehlow, 62.
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