CIVPAC endorses Representative Angie Craig in Minnesota’s August 11 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.
Craig is running for the open seat being vacated by Senator Tina Smith. Her principal opponent is Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, although four additional candidates will appear on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ballot.
We believe Craig is the stronger candidate for Minnesota and the better fit for the Centrist Independent Voter.
Craig won a Republican-held congressional seat in 2018 and has repeatedly been reelected from a suburban and exurban district that has often been politically competitive. She has succeeded by concentrating on affordability, public safety, agriculture, rural communities and the practical concerns of voters who do not automatically support either party. That experience would be valuable both in the general election and in the Senate.
Craig is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. Her work reflects an understanding that Democrats cannot govern effectively by speaking only to large cities or the party’s most committed activists. Farmers, small businesses, rural communities and politically independent voters must also have a place in the Democratic coalition.
She has also supported important government-ethics and democratic reforms, including restrictions on presidential self-enrichment and conflicts of interest, stronger protections for federal elections and limitations on stock ownership by members of Congress. Those issues have become particularly important during the second Trump administration.
CIVPAC will not agree with Craig on every issue. She supports the PRO Act, substantial additional federal spending and a more aggressive use of antitrust and regulatory policy than we would generally favor. An endorsement does not require complete agreement.
We are particularly concerned by Craig’s occasional use of “corporate greed” rhetoric. High prices, by themselves, are not evidence of misconduct and generally are not a matter for government intervention. Government may properly act against collusion, fraud or the acquisition and exercise of monopoly power, but it should not attempt to decide whether ordinary price increases are warranted.
We are also troubled by Craig’s support for legislation that would single out private-equity investment in youth sports for especially hostile treatment. Particular anticompetitive or abusive practices should be prohibited regardless of who owns the business, but private-equity ownership is not itself evidence of misconduct.
Flanagan, on the other hand, represents a more consistently left-wing alternative. She has the support of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Representative Pramila Jayapal and other prominent leaders of the Democratic left.
Her platform includes Medicare for All, a federal minimum wage of at least $17 indexed to inflation, the PRO Act, a larger federal role in education and social benefits, and dismantling ICE in favor of a reconstituted immigration agency. She also frequently presents economic problems as the result of “greedy corporations” and a political system controlled by billionaires and corporate interests. Those positions place her far from CIVPAC’s market-oriented approach.
The serious fraud scandals involving programs administered or overseen by Minnesota agencies also create a political problem for Flanagan. The Feeding Our Future scheme alone diverted approximately $250 million intended to provide meals to children, and related fraud investigations and prosecutions have continued.
We have seen no evidence that Flanagan personally administered the affected programs or participated in the fraud. Nevertheless, as lieutenant governor throughout the Walz administration, she would have difficulty separating herself politically from its record of inadequate oversight. Republicans will almost certainly make that record a central issue in the general election. Craig’s warning about that vulnerability is a realistic political assessment, not merely a partisan attack.
Minnesota remains a Democratic-leaning state, but electability cannot be dismissed. Kamala Harris carried Minnesota by only about 4.2 percentage points in 2024. That does not make the Senate seat a toss-up, but it does mean Democrats should take seriously the possibility of a strong Republican challenge.
The eventual Republican nominee is likely to focus heavily on the Walz-Flanagan administration’s fraud record, immigration enforcement and concerns about public safety. Craig has already demonstrated that she can withstand difficult campaigns, appeal beyond the Democratic base and represent a district containing suburban, exurban and rural voters.
More importantly, she has shown that a Democrat can work across party lines without abandoning her party’s commitments to personal freedom, economic opportunity and democratic government.
Angie Craig offers the best combination of electability, legislative experience, political pragmatism and concern for the voters Democrats must regain.
CIVPAC endorses Angie Craig in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate from Minnesota.