Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan announces run for U.S. Senate, Rep. Ilhan Omar considering

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 of Smith saying she would not seek re-election next fall, leaving an opening in one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats for the first time in nearly eight years.

“I love Minnesota and my intention is to run for the United States Senate and continue to serve the people of this state,” Flanagan posted on social media Thursday.

She could face a potentially crowded field of Democrats hoping to head to the Senate, including DFL U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose office said that she’s exploring a run. Sources say DFL U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Secretary of State Steve Simon have also been encouraged to run for the Senate, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hasn’t ruled it out.

On the Republican side, former NBA player and conservative activist Royce White has already declared his intentions to seek the party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, but other conservatives could also jump into the race now that the seat is open.

Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2017 by Gov. Mark Dayton to fill the vacancy left by then-Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who resigned from office in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

Flanagan declined interview requests but praised Smith for “paving the way for so many women like me throughout her entire career.”

“She uses her voice to fiercely defend the people of Minnesota,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan, a former state legislator, has been elected twice as lieutenant governor alongside Walz, who is also mulling a third campaign for governor.

It wasn’t clear if he would run again with Flanagan following an apparent falling out after the governor returned home from his failed vice-presidential run. They stopped appearing in public together and weren’t speaking to each other in private, either, multiple sources close to the governor’s office told the Star Tribune in December.

The sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Walz’s team wasn’t pleased with the steps Flanagan had taken to assume the governorship, conferring with potential key hires and preparing for a possible 2026 run herself if Walz was elected to the White House.

Neither Walz nor Flanagan would answer questions when asked if they would run together again.

A spokesman for Omar said she’s received calls and texts encouraging her to run and “will be talking with Minnesotans about the future of the Senate seat and DFL party in Minnesota.” Omar has represented the Fifth District in Congress since 2019 and is the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Craig, who is serving her fourth term representing Minnesota’s Second District, handily won re-election to the swing seat last fall over Republican candidate Joe Teirab.

In a statement, Craig praised Smith’s leadership in the Senate, calling her a “true public servant.” Asked if she’s considering a Senate run, Craig said she’s “honored to serve the state of Minnesota, and I’ll continue to do that in the best way I can,” adding: “but today is about Tina Smith.”

Other prominent lawmakers quickly took themselves off the list of people interested in the Senate. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s campaign said he’s not seeking the seat, and he posted from his political X account on Thursday that he’s “excited to re-announce my campaign for reelection as Mayor of Saint Paul!”

Former U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, who mounted a Democratic primary challenge against former President Joe Biden last year, said Thursday that he wouldn’t run for Smith’s Senate seat or for governor.

GOP U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer posted on X that he’s “focused on doing the job I was elected to do and that is serving the great people of Minnesota’s Sixth District here in Congress.”

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the last Republican to win statewide in Minnesota, said in an email that the open Senate seat is “a prime opportunity for Minnesota Republicans to select a strong statewide candidate,” but he doesn’t plan to run himself.

Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken thanked Smith for her service in a Thursday post on X and appeared to rule out a run himself.

“As DFLers, we are lucky to have a deep bench of people who are guided by Paul Wellstone’s words: we all do better when we all do better,” Franken said. “I look forward to supporting the candidate we nominate to work on behalf of Minnesotans in Washington.”