Democrat Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, has beaten Republican media personality Michele Tafoya for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
The race was called for Flanagan by NBC News a few hours after polls closed on Tuesday night. As of 10:45 p.m., the senator-elect had 54.5 percent of the vote over Tafoya’s 42.7 percent, with nearly 90 percent of the votes tallied.
Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster, entered the race in January and handily won the August Republican primary over former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze and former basketball player Royce White.
In the Democratic primary, Flanagan joined in on the trend of progressive left-wing candidates beating more moderate liberals this midterm season in her solid defeat of Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN).
In a statement after the race was called, Flanagan said the results proved that “the many can beat the money, and that no president can ever beat the power of the people.”
The seat became open after Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) announced in the beginning of 2025 that she would not seek another term. Smith threw her support behind Flanagan earlier this year, calling her a “fierce fighter” who has “delivered results for Minnesotans.”
Just last Monday, President Donald Trump claimed that the only way for Tafoya to lose was if Democrats cheated.
“Don’t allow them to play with the Votes after the race is over. The Federal Government will be watching closely,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The only way she can lose is if they cheat by playing games with the Ballots as they come in.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
