Minnesota's U.S. Senate candidates clashed Friday on MPR News over President Donald Trump's role in the race, with Democrat Peggy Flanagan seizing on Republican Michele Tafoya's awkward attempts to distance herself from the president.
Flanagan, the state's lieutenant governor for eight years, and Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter making her first bid for public office, are competing for a Senate seat Democrats have held since 2009. Recent polling gives Flanagan a 4 percent advantage in what both parties recognize as a tightening race.
Trump's presence loomed over the one-hour debate. Tafoya initially welcomed the president's endorsement when announcing her candidacy in the spring. But after Trump spoke at an Ohio rally last month and criticized Minnesota's Somali community—alleging members were involved in looting state welfare programs—while urging voters to back Tafoya, the candidate began repositioning.
When asked whether she would campaign with Trump if he visited Minnesota, Tafoya dodged a direct answer. Flanagan pounced. "Minnesotans are smarter than this new version of Michele Tafoya who has shown up in the final weeks of this campaign," Flanagan said, calling Tafoya a potential "lapdog" for the president.
The debate also surfaced fraud allegations that have shadowed Flanagan. Approximately 70 individuals have been convicted in connection with millions of dollars bilked from state programs under Governor Tim Walz's administration. Flanagan, as lieutenant governor and Walz's second in command, faces questions about her role in the oversight failures.
National parties have largely sat out the Minnesota race, directing resources instead to reliably conservative states where control of the Senate could be decided. That spending calculation reflects how competitive the contest has become—and how much Trump's unpredictability has complicated Tafoya's path to victory.
