Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan announced she plans to run for U.S. Senate on the same day Sen. Tina Smith announced she will not be seeking reelection next year.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said Thursday she will run for the U.S. Senate in 2026, the first Democrat to jump into what could be a crowded field to replace outgoing Sen. Tina Smith. Flanagan made her announcement within a few hours after Smith,

ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s lieutenant governor and a failed 2024 candidate have both announced bids for a 2026 congressional seat after U.S. Sen. Tina Smith announced on Thursday that she will not be running for re-election in 2026.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan announced Thursday that she plans to run for the state's newly open U.S. Senate in 2026, while Gov. Tim Walz is keeping the door open for a bid of his own, Axios has learned.

Flanagan, who is from St. Louis Park, graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2002, where she studied American Indian studies and child psychology. She also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2015 until she became lieutenant governor.

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, the highest-ranking Native American woman in state government and a citizen of the White Earth Nation, announced on Thursday her intention to run for the U.

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan has confirmed her intention to run for Sen. Tina Smith's soon-to-be vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. Smith announced on Thursday that she will not seek reelection after he term ends, meaning Minnesotans will vote for a new junior senator in November 2026.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is seeking a higher office. After Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith announced that she will not be running for reelection in 2026, Flanagan shared on social media that she intends to throw her proverbial hat in the ring for the U.