{"id":44481,"date":"2026-08-14T14:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44481"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:16:22","slug":"gop-finds-its-next-progressive-target-in-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=44481","title":{"rendered":"GOP finds its next progressive target in Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/WR5zXSeKGWRN-7vijBcSgPDGGO8=\/0x0:4200x2363\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/13\/1786658105151.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Republicans have a new name on their growing list of progressive midterm targets: Minnesota Lt. Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/twin-cities\/2026\/08\/12\/peggy-flanagan-democratic-primary-minnesota-senate-results\" target=\"_blank\">Peggy Flanagan<\/a>, fresh off a landslide Senate primary win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>With President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>&#8216;s approval ratings in the 30s, Republicans are trying to turn the midterms from a referendum on him into a choice between the GOP and a Democratic Party they argue has moved sharply to the left.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That means portraying some progressive Democrats who&#8217;ve won statewide primaries as national foils. The strategy came into focus last week, after Abdul El-Sayed&#8217;s victory in Michigan&#8217;s Senate primary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Republicans will aim <\/strong>to make<strong> <\/strong>El-Sayed and liberal podcaster Hasan Piker into focal points of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/07\/gop-midterm-convention-gameplan\" target=\"_blank\">upcoming midterm convention<\/a> in Dallas.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>GOP operatives have been collecting<\/strong> video of El-Sayed, Piker and other prominent liberals for use in attack reels at the Sept. 9-10 convention.<\/li>\n<li>Trump already has attacked El-Sayed over his Muslim faith, accusing Democrats after his win of nominating &#8220;jihadists&#8221; \u2014 which liberals denounced as Islamophobic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Now, Republicans are zeroing in<\/strong> on Flanagan.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After Tuesday&#8217;s primary, the conservative X account End Wokeness <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EndWokeness\/status\/2004396872434438621\" target=\"_blank\">posted a video<\/a> of Flanagan wearing a hijab, which she had worn during a 2025 visit to a mosque. Pro-Trump activist Jack Posobiec <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JackPosobiec\/status\/2087394794284724386\" target=\"_blank\">posted a link<\/a> to a story that included a picture of Flanagan wearing a &#8220;protect trans kids&#8221; T-shirt.<\/li>\n<li>The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NRSC\/status\/2087511872576901383?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">video<\/a> describing her as an &#8220;extremist.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in:<\/strong> GOP operatives see lines of attack in Flanagan&#8217;s support for dismantling ICE and support for transgender rights, and her ties to progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Republicans also plan to tout the Minnesota <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/republicans-see-minnesota-fraud-scandal-as-a-chance-to-go-on-offense-in-a-blue-state\" target=\"_blank\">fraud scandals<\/a> that unfolded during Flanagan&#8217;s tenure as lieutenant governor as evidence of liberal mismanagement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>State of play: <\/strong>Republicans haven&#8217;t won a statewide race in Minnesota in two decades, and limited spring polling showed Flanagan leading the GOP&#8217;s Senate nominee, former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>National GOP strategists are watching the race closely to measure how much to invest in it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tafoya has been invited<\/strong> to a donor retreat in California later this month that will be hosted by the pro-GOP Senate Leadership Fund&#8217;s super PAC.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Republicans grew more bullish about Tafoya&#8217;s chances Tuesday after state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won Minnesota&#8217;s GOP primary for governor over MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, an election conspiracy theorist whom GOP operatives feared would have alienated independents and dragged down the party&#8217;s ticket.<\/li>\n<li>Even if Republicans can&#8217;t defeat Flanagan, they hope to force Democrats to spend resources defending the seat being vacated by Amy Klobuchar, who won the Democratic primary for governor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Yes, but: <\/strong>Republicans face a tough political environment in Minnesota, where Trump has a <a href=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/kstp-news\/top-news\/kstp-surveyusa-poll-walz-trump-klobuchar-approval-ratings-all-fall-to-low-points\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\">37%<\/a> approval rating. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flanagan showed political strength in the primary, defeating a better-funded and more moderate Democratic opponent by 20 points.<\/li>\n<li>Republicans are also grappling with fallout from the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers deployed there by Trump&#8217;s administration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The other side:<\/strong> Flanagan is tying Tafoya to Trump, including by highlighting Tafoya&#8217;s comments that Minnesotans should &#8220;take one less trip to Starbucks&#8221; and accept temporary economic pain during the U.S.-Iran war.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Republicans can throw around<\/strong> false labels all they want, but it won&#8217;t distract Minnesotans from the reality that Donald Trump is abusing his authority every single day, while his failed economy makes life harder for working families,&#8221; a Flanagan spokesperson Lexi Byler told Axios. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tafoya &#8220;would be just another loyal vote for Trump,&#8221; Byler added, &#8220;and Minnesotans will reject her just as they have rejected him.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans have a new name on their growing list of progressive midterm targets: Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, fresh off a landslide Senate primary win. Why it matters: With President Trump&#8216;s approval ratings in the 30s, Republicans are trying to turn the midterms from a referendum on him into a choice between the GOP and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/WR5zXSeKGWRN-7vijBcSgPDGGO8=\/0x0:4200x2363\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/13\/1786658105151.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}