In liberal Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan should be gliding into a November victory for a Senate seat currently held by Sen. Tina Smith, who did not seek re-election.
But the poll average at RealClearPolitics shows Flanagan with only a 1.6-point lead over Michelle Tafoya, her Republican challenger who is also a retired sports journalist and sideline reporter for the NFL.
Flanagan is narrowly leading her Republican opponent in polls in the same liberal state where Kamala Harris won the popular vote 51%-47% over Donald Trump in 2024.
Flanagan is also narrowly leading Tafoya in a state where a Republican hasn’t been elected statewide since 2006, according to the Cook Political Report.
After observing the close polls and studying the two candidates, Washington Times columnist Robert Knight tells AFN that Minnesota is “ripe for change” on November 3.
“There's a lot of sensible, conservative Midwesterners in Minnesota,” he states, “who really don't like the large-scale corruption under Gov. Tim Walz, and what's happened in the Somali community, and the billions of dollars in fraud that's got to hurt their feelings about their home state.”
Regarding the two candidates, Knight says political newcomer Tafoya is helped by her reputation and name recognition. A native Minnesotan, she is well-known after decades of award-winning sports reporting.
“And then you've got a weak candidate, Peggy Flanagan,” Knight says of the current lieutenant governor.
“She has said all sorts of repeatable left-wing slogans that make no sense, and appears in hijabs, and looks like a prisoner of the radical left,” he says.
Flanagan has been described as a caricature of a liberal candidate attempting to appeal to her base. She has appeared in a hijab to please Somalis and wore a “Protect Trans Kids” t-shirt that depicted a knife to support the rainbow activists.
More recently, in a campaign ad that criticized President Donald Trump, Flanagan’s bizarre style choice was an oversized suit and orange tie.
Flanagan can still squeeze out a win in November, but Knight says it might be time for Minnesota to finally go through a “recovery” phase after decades of left-wing politicians harming the state.
