Overview:
A new poll shows Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan widening her lead over U.S. Rep. Angie Craig in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, with less than two weeks remaining before the Aug. 11 election. The survey, commissioned by Public Policy Polling, found Flanagan holding a 14-point advantage despite millions of dollars in outside spending supporting Craig.
Native Vote 2026
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Ojibwe) has expanded her lead in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, according to a new survey released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling (PPP).
The poll found Flanagan leading U.S. Rep. Angie Craig 46% to 32% among likely Democratic primary voters, a 14-point margin that has doubled from the seven-point lead she held in a PPP survey conducted one month earlier.
The survey comes with less than two weeks remaining before Minnesota Democrats choose their nominee in the Aug. 11 primary.
According to the poll, Flanagan maintains a net favorability rating of +32 despite months of negative advertising aimed at her campaign. Her supporters argue that the results demonstrate Democratic voters remain firmly behind the lieutenant governor even after significant outside spending in the race.
The Flanagan campaign and its allies contend that outside groups supporting Craig—including organizations backed by cryptocurrency interests and a technology billionaire with investments in data centers—have spent approximately $20 million on advertising in an effort to influence the primary.
The poll also found strong opposition to President Donald Trump among Democratic primary voters, with 94% saying they disapprove of the president.
Kevin Holst, executive director of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, argued that Craig’s voting record has become a liability with Democratic voters.
“Angie Craig is trying her best to gaslight Minnesota voters into believing her lies about her own voting record, but they aren’t buying it, no matter what her Trump donors and crypto billionaire dark money backers are saying,” Holst said. “They’ve thrown $20 million at defeating Peggy Flanagan, and all they’ve done is double her lead over Angie Craig. Craig’s outside groups are outspending everyone on the airwaves and still losing ground, because Minnesota Democrats know exactly who Peggy Flanagan is: a champion for working families who will always stand up to Trump. Angie Craig has spent this campaign trying to outrun her own voting record, the same record she once bragged put her in line with Republican Whip Tom Emmer half the time. Minnesota caught up to her a long time ago.”
Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Nation, is seeking to become the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. During her tenure as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, she has highlighted her work on legislation that established paid family and medical leave, expanded free school meals for students, and increased the state’s minimum wage.
Her campaign has also received endorsements from several prominent Democrats, including Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Martin Heinrich, Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, and Keith Ellison.
The Public Policy Polling survey was conducted July 23–24 among 672 likely Minnesota Democratic primary voters. The poll’s reported margin of error was not included in the release.
