The next major stop in the fight between moderate and progressive Democrats will come in Minnesota, where a competitive Senate primary on Tuesday has been shaped by the Trump administration\u2019s deadly immigration crackdown and a fraud scandal that rocked the Democratic-run state government.<\/p>\n
The race between Representative Angie Craig, a moderate who represents a purple suburban district in Congress, and Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota\u2019s progressive lieutenant governor, will offer the latest test of left-wing energy in the Democratic Party as it strives to flip the Senate.<\/p>\n
The contest, which has become one of the most expensive Senate primaries in state history, comes a week after Dr. Abdul El-Sayed eked out a victory<\/a> in Michigan\u2019s Senate primary, giving a lift to progressives.<\/p>\n Like that race, the Minnesota primary reflects the identity crisis that has shaken the party since it lost control of the White House and the Senate in 2024.<\/p>\n After unseating a Republican incumbent in 2018, Ms. Craig, 54, has comfortably held on to her seat by working across the aisle<\/a> and by wielding significant influence over agriculture policy. That record, she says, makes her the strongest bet to keep the seat of the retiring Senator Tina Smith in Democratic hands.<\/p>\n Ms. Flanagan, 46, who is backed by Ms. Smith and by progressive leaders like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has staked out positions that appeal to the party\u2019s liberal flank, including cutting military aid to Israel and establishing the single-payer health care system known as Medicare for all. She has billed herself as the candidate who favors sweeping change over incrementalism.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a very tense race, and this one will sting for people,\u201d said Jeff Hayden, a Democratic strategist in Minnesota who is neutral in the contest. \u201cPeople probably will take a little while to get their friendships back together after this is over.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans have not won a statewide race in Minnesota since 2006, having failed to put forward candidates with broad appeal in a closely divided state. The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face an unusually well-known Republican, Michele Tafoya, a veteran sports broadcaster who has staked out relatively moderate positions on issues like abortion<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms. Craig\u2019s supporters have argued that the congresswoman would be a safer choice for Democrats in November. \u201cElectability is probably the No. 1 factor,\u201d said Joe Radinovich, a Democratic strategist in Minnesota who is not involved in the race but views Ms. Craig as the better general-election candidate.<\/p>\n But progressives, emboldened by Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s victory in Michigan, see an opportunity to expand their reach in the Midwest. They say the Democratic establishment underestimates voters\u2019 frustration with the political system and their desire for far-reaching change. Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota progressive who is supporting Ms. Flanagan, said she saw little difference between Dr. El-Sayed\u2019s winning populist message and Ms. Flanagan\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to bring hope back into politics,\u201d Ms. Omar said. \u201cThere\u2019s been too many people in Washington that got lost in the politics of Washington and forget the hope that they carry \u2014 the hopes and dreams of the people that send them there.\u201d<\/p>\n Immigration enforcement has been a dominant issue in the Democratic primary after the Trump administration\u2019s wintertime crackdown in Minnesota<\/a>, which led to mass roundups of migrants, violent protests and the deaths of two American citizens shot by federal agents.<\/p>\n Ms. Craig faced criticism for having been the only Minnesota Democrat to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act<\/a>, the first piece of legislation that Mr. Trump signed into law last year. The bill gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement broader authority to detain immigrants charged with certain crimes.<\/p>\n At the height of the crackdown in Minnesota, Ms. Craig initially defended<\/a> her vote while lamenting the deportation push it helped fuel. But in March, she backtracked, saying she regretted the vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n While neither candidate has endorsed the movement calling to abolish ICE outright, both say they would push for a major overhaul of the immigration agency.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever word you want to use, it can\u2019t exist like this anymore,\u201d Ms. Flanagan said in an interview. \u201cWe have to rip ICE apart and start over.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Craig called the conduct of immigration agents in Minnesota \u201ctruly horrific,\u201d and said she wanted to bar agents from wearing masks and force them to use body cameras. \u201cWhat my community is asking is for immigration authorities just to use proper law enforcement techniques,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n While Ms. Craig has been on the defensive over her immigration record, Ms. Flanagan has faced scrutiny for a scandal involving fraud<\/a> in state-run safety-net programs.<\/p>\n Minnesotans across the political spectrum have faulted Gov. Tim Walz for failing to build stronger safeguards in recent years as fraudsters stole hundreds of millions of dollars from programs designed to feed low-income children, treat minors with autism and help people at risk of homelessness.<\/p>\n \u201cState fraud is the No. 1 issue as Minnesota voters go to the polls in November,\u201d Ms. Craig said. \u201cFairly or not, the lieutenant governor has a unique vulnerability as our statewide Senate candidate because she\u2019s been helping run the state for the last eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if she took responsibility, Ms. Flanagan said the governor had been leading the response and had taken decisive action over the past year. \u201cHe said the buck stops with him and he\u2019s done that work,\u201d she said, while acknowledging that Minnesotans \u201chave the right to be angry about fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. military aid to Israel is a major point of divergence between the candidates.<\/p>\n Ms. Flanagan has assailed Ms. Craig for voting against a measure last month that sought to eliminate all of the $3.3 billion in military and humanitarian aid that Washington provides to Israel annually. Nearly half of House Democrats<\/a> backed the measure.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerican taxpayer dollars should not be used to fuel the horrific violence and suffering that\u2019s being experienced there,\u201d said Ms. Flanagan, who has said she believes the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza meet the legal definition of a genocide.<\/p>\n Ms. Craig has called the debate over that term<\/a> unhelpful<\/a>. But she said a wholesale reset in the U.S. relationship with Israel was overdue.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the best thing that could happen for U.S.-Israel relations is for Benjamin Netanyahu to lose his next election,\u201d she said, adding that such a turning point would make it easier to re-evaluate security assistance going forward.<\/p>\n The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the country\u2019s leading pro-Israel group, has provided significant support in Ms. Craig\u2019s past races. In a sign of how wary Democrats have become<\/a> of being seen as linked to the group, Ms. Craig said she had asked AIPAC not to fund her Senate campaign directly. AIPAC, though, has helped her Senate bid indirectly<\/a> by hosting fund-raisers.<\/p>\n Disputes over AIPAC are part of a broader debate in the race about the role that outside groups are playing. Ms. Flanagan calls her campaign \u201cthe many versus the money,\u201d chiding Ms. Craig for accepting money from corporate and industry groups that do not need to disclose their funders.<\/p>\n