Sunday, August 16, 2026
Political Mayhem Sunday: The Minnesota Primary Made One Big Statement
My home state of Minnesota was in the spotlight this week as we held our primaries on Tuesday. I think that merits a special post this week now that I've had time to think about it.
There were three elections and one fact that I think sent a single message:
-- Progressive Peggy Flanagan beat moderate Angie Craig by 20 points for the Democratic nomination for Tina Smith's Senate seat. A key issue for many voters: Craig's vote for the Laken Riley Act, which gave ICE money and power.
-- State House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the GOP nomination for Governor over Mike Lindell (pictured above with a pillow), who had President Trump's endorsement, and Kendall Qualles, who was endorsed by the state party.
-- Finally, Michelle Tafoya absolutely destroyed the party-endorsed GOP candidate for Senate, whose name I've already forgotten (Doug? Randy? Something like that).
-- In a state with a rough balance between parties, 697,000 people voted in the Democratic primary for US Senate, while only 406,000 Republicans voted in that race on their side of the ballot. That's a huge enthusiasm gap.
The one take-away is this: Minnesotans are still mad about Operation Metro Surge, and that is a much bigger issue here than the fraud cases and what they have revealed. Here is how that showed up: Democrats turned out in huge numbers and angry, voting for the people they think will fight back against Washington (ie, Flanagan). Republicans are rejecting their state party's advice (Tafoya and Demuth). Trump's endorsement didn't matter much.
November looms...
