Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate
Sean: We'd like to welcome Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who is running for U.S. Senate. The primary is today, and this primary competition between Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Representative Angie Craig has been very heated and very expensive – if you've been trying to watch TV without running into these two, you have failed. Lieutenant Governor, thank you so much for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities on this very busy day for you. We appreciate your time.
Peggy: Thanks so much for having me.
Sean: Now, Peggy Flanagan, you're no stranger to representing Minnesota – you've been the Lieutenant Governor – but I want to ask: how would your work as an elected official in the Senate most tangibly impact the community you live in?
Peggy: Sure. Well, I'd say a couple things. I'm running to make sure that people can afford the lives they want to live. I grew up in the community of St. Louis Park – it's where I still live with my family – and I grew up on the margins. I was a kid who carried a box of commodity cheese under my arm like a football. Section 8 paid the rent. SNAP is what kept food on the table for my family, and I'm alive because of Medicaid.
But what I also watched was my mom being a badass. She worked incredibly hard, and she went back to school – she got her certificate in phlebotomy, and we like to tease her and say she became a professional vampire. But I remember watching her walk across that stage and feeling like I was walking across it too, because I knew how incredibly hard she worked, for me and for herself. So that's what I'm bringing into this race – knowing what it feels like to stretch $20 through the end of the month, and fighting against the status quo.
I think the root of it – and Sean, you mentioned it – all of these ads, this is the most expensive Senate primary in Minnesota's history. $20 million has come against us so far: crypto, AI, tech billionaires, health insurance companies, AIPAC, and all these special interests. I'm not taking a dime of corporate PAC money because I want to be beholden only to Minnesotans. I share that with you because I think that's the root of so many things we don't have access to – like a healthcare system that works for everybody, housing, childcare, all of these pieces. As folks are struggling to afford their lives, the people at the very top are doing quite well, and that's a frustration many people share. I'm going to fight for the many and not for the money. That's what I plan to bring to D.C.
Sean: And you talk in your own personal narrative – obviously there are a lot of ways government programs helped you and your family be more resilient and stronger, and we've seen a lot of that support fall away. A lot of what you needed and received at that time isn't as available now. I assume we're in agreement that we want stronger, more resilient communities. What can you do to make communities more resilient from your vantage point as an elected official?
Peggy: Sure, I'd say a couple things. I want to make sure that the way we've campaigned – we've done over 300 events in 112 communities – should also be the way that I govern, by being in relationship with Minnesotans, making sure folks feel like, "Oh, we know her, she represents us." That's why I'm fighting for Medicare for All. I think it's completely outrageous that I talk to families with $16,000 deductibles, who are paying 500 bucks for a med check, who are deciding whether to cover just the kids, or just mom. Our healthcare plan right now is basically to pray that nobody gets sick. Our time has come where folks no longer need to just pay for health insurance, but should actually be able to receive health care.
I'd like to get rid of prior authorization, because I don't think some person behind a desk – or worse, an AI bot – should determine whether or not you get the lifesaving healthcare your doctor prescribed. I want universal childcare capped at 7% of your income as a family. Childcare is the backbone of the economy, and incidentally, there are only four moms with kids under 18 serving in the U.S. Senate – and boy, can't you tell from the outcomes we're getting right now.
So those are some of the issues. I co-chaired the campaign to raise the minimum wage in this state when I led the Children's Defense Fund. At the time, folks said, "You're too ambitious, you're asking for too much" – to raise it and index it to inflation. But we passed that law, and over the last decade, people have seen their wages increase. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage hasn't increased in 17 years – it's still $7.25, which is completely impossible. I want us to raise the national minimum wage.
I also fought hard – I was one of the co-founders of Minnesotans for Paid Family and Medical Leave, back when my kid was still portable on my hip. We built that coalition, we organized for it, and it passed and was implemented this year – 75,000 people have now taken advantage of this program to bond with a new baby, care for a sick loved one, or care for themselves. That matters, and we need a national paid leave policy.
And after the year we've had, we need to rip ICE apart and hold this Trump administration accountable for the terror, chaos, and loss of life they've caused here in Minnesota. I think folks have heard me use the term "avenge" – and what that really means is that the $240 billion that's been given to ICE and CBP, while we've watched health care being taken from people and food being taken off the table to fund this lawless agency, along with trillions of dollars in tax cuts for people who don't need them – enough. This is madness, and we can do better.
Sean: Now, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan, even if these things ring true with somebody, there might be a fear that if we send someone who's really on the Medicare for All bandwagon to D.C., we're sending them to a Republican-majority Senate. Are you going to be stuck on the sidelines because you can't reach across the aisle? Realistically, you're the more progressive candidate, and the candidate with less of a track record reaching across the aisle, at least in my reckoning. So I'm trying to understand: might someone with your values be wasted on a Senate that isn't ready to work on these things because it's controlled by Republicans?
Peggy: I would say – I think we have the opportunity to take back the House and the Senate, but as you mentioned, the Trump administration will also be there moving forward, at least for the next two years. But I'm proud of the work I've been able to do with folks across the aisle. When I was at the Children's Defense Fund, I sometimes got a lot of grief from my DFL friends serving in the legislature, because they'd say, "Hey, how come you didn't ask me to author this bill?" And I'd say, "Well, Republicans are in the majority, and I can't wait two years or four years for healthy babies and healthy birth outcomes for kids and their moms." So finding that common ground is important to me.
When I served in the legislature during one term, there were only two bills from DFLers in the House that got across the finish line – one of them was mine, because I'm pretty intentional about building relationships. Regardless of my occupation, I'm an organizer, and finding common ground – my job on day one in the U.S. Senate is to schedule 99 cups of coffee with my colleagues and find places where we can work together.
I'm going to push for Medicare for All, because frankly it's what people deserve. But along the way – banning prior authorization is at the top of my list, and that has bipartisan support; I actually think we can get that done. And things like making sure Congress lives up to its end of the bargain and funds special education – the commitment was always 40% under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and they've never met that commitment. That also has bipartisan support and is worth fighting for, for our public schools and for kids all across this country.
Those are the opportunities, I think. And as we've been doing this work, we've had DFLers coming to our events, but we've also had independents who say, "I don't have a political home, I'm just super freaked out by what's happening right now." And we've had Republicans who say, "Flanagan, I don't agree with you on everything – in fact, not a lot – but at least you're here listening to us." And I think that goes a really long way in this politics of noise and division, and just spewing absolute hatred from the White House. We can do things differently here, and we have in the past – in the way we showed up for our neighbors this winter. I don't think anyone was asking about political affiliation as they were simply trying to get food to their neighbors and make sure the people they care about weren't just scooped up off the street.
Sean: There's a notable recent poll from the Star Tribune, KARE 11, and the Hubbard School of Journalism that found 81% of respondents worried about fraud in state government. If someone is worried about fraud in state government, why would they vote for somebody who was really high up in state government during this period of massive fraud?
Peggy: Well, I'd be really clear that fraud of any kind is completely unacceptable, and I know Minnesotans are angry – I am too, as a former executive director of an organization that served children and families. I find it completely infuriating that anyone would steal from taxpayers, but especially take resources from people who need them desperately. There's been work done to stop fraud and prevent it from happening in the first place – 60 people have been prosecuted, a hundred people have been charged. Aimee Bock, the ringleader of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced to 41 years plus 8 months. And to that, I say good.
What I also know is that Republicans are running against every Democrat on fraud – Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, the legislators. And just last week, there was an ad that popped up showing Congresswoman Craig and me side by side, attacking us both on fraud. She serves on the Ag Committee – that's why they're going after her. It's all political theater to distract from the fact that this president, right out of the gate, pardoned 70 white-collar criminals who've stolen billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid funds. He got rid of 17 inspectors general, whose whole job is to police corruption at the federal level. And this guy is making money hand over fist out of the White House – and for the folks who paid for his gilded ballroom, their reward was government contracts. Enough. I think whoever our opponent is in the fall – Michele Tafoya or whoever it is – it's clear to me they'll be a "yes sir, Mr. President" kind of senator. What we actually need is someone who's going to stand up to the Trump administration.
And I'd say that's also a distinction between me and my opponent, who has voted with Donald Trump more than any other Minnesota Democrat. We can do better, and I think Minnesotans are positioned to make sure we send someone who's going to take on the status quo and push back against the Trump administration. As a Minnesotan, as someone who's lived here my whole life, this state has invested so much in me and in my family, and I really look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the people of Minnesota, if that's their will, in Washington.
Sean: Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, it's primary day, it's a busy day – you taking the time to talk with City Cast Twin Cities means a lot to us. Thank you so much for your time today.
Peggy: Thanks so much.
