Peggy Flanagan beat former sportscaster Michele Tafoya to hold Minnesota’s open Senate seat — and will become the first Native American woman in the U.S. Senate. The AP called the race at 12:07 a.m. ET.
Peggy Flanagan has been Minnesota’s lieutenant governor since 2019, serving as Gov. Tim Walz’s second in command. She will now make history in Washington.
Flanagan, 47, is a citizen of the White Earth Nation, an Ojibwe tribe. When she became lieutenant governor she was the first Native American woman to hold that job anywhere in the country, and the first woman of color elected to statewide office in Minnesota. Before that she served on the Minneapolis school board and in the Minnesota House, and she ran the Minnesota office of the Children’s Defense Fund.
To win the Senate seat Sen. Tina Smith gave up, she first beat Rep. Angie Craig in a hard Democratic primary, then defeated Michele Tafoya, the former television sportscaster, in the general election.
When she is sworn in, she will be the first Native American woman ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. Watch how she carries tribal issues into a chamber that has rarely had a Native voice.
Fast facts
- Age: 47
- Party: Democratic
- Office: U.S. Senator
- State: Minnesota
- Previous job: Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
- Called by AP: 12:07 a.m. ET, Nov. 4, 2026
Part of the Zark News Election 2026 winners profile series. Winners are listed as called by the Associated Press.
