Minnesota

Not calledR -5.4closes 9:00 pm ET

30% in · Tafoya +6.2 (early)

Who's running

Peggy FlanaganD45.5% · 30% in

Peggy Flanagan is Minnesota's lieutenant governor. She is a member of the White Earth Nation and was the first woman of color elected statewide in Minnesota. She served on the Minneapolis school board, then in the state House from 2015 to 2019. She has been lieutenant governor under Gov. Tim Walz since 2019, about eight years. She won the primary in August 2026 with 59 percent of the vote.

What they say they'll do

She wants Medicare for All and lower drug prices.
She wants a $17 federal minimum wage, paid family leave, and child care for all.
She wants to ban corporate money in elections and stop members of Congress from trading stocks.

Michele TafoyaR51.7% · 30% in

Michele Tafoya is a former sports reporter who has never held office. She covered the NFL for CBS, ESPN, and NBC for almost 30 years, and was the sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football from 2011 to 2022. After leaving NBC she started a podcast. She calls herself a pro-choice conservative. She won the Republican primary in August 2026 and was endorsed by President Trump in October.

What they say they'll do

She wants to crack down on fraud in state programs and fire the people who let it happen.
She wants lower taxes and lower costs for health care and gas.
She wants tougher public safety and has a five-point plan on gang violence.

The tea ☕

Minnesota has had huge fraud in state programs. One meal program scheme took at least $250 million, and 68 people have been convicted. Tafoya says Flanagan was second in charge and should get a 'pink slip.' Flanagan says she is angry about the fraud and backed a new inspector general, but she did not run the agencies involved.
The fraud scandal was so big that Gov. Tim Walz dropped his run for a third term. In the debate, Flanagan would not say if she would campaign with him.
In 2023, Tafoya posted that she was 'embarrassed to say I live in Minnesota' and planned to leave. She deleted the post and later denied saying it. The Daily Beast found it in a web archive.
In March 2026, Tafoya told people upset about high gas prices to 'take one less trip to Starbucks' and 'be patriots.' She was widely mocked for it.
Flanagan has said she wants to 'tear ICE apart.' Tafoya and Republicans call that extreme.
In the October 16 debate, Tafoya would not say if she would share a stage with Trump, who had just endorsed her. Flanagan said Tafoya would be a rubber stamp for him.
Tafoya lost her own party's convention endorsement in May 2026, then beat the endorsed candidate in the primary anyway.

Sources

Minnesota House seats: 0 D, 0 R, 8 pending