Flanagan defeated centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig with a pledge to fight the influence of corporations and confront Republican President Donald Trump.
“For months now, I have been telling you that this campaign was about the many versus the money,” Flanagan said as she celebrated her victory in Minneapolis. “Well guess what? The many just won.”
Flanagan will be the front-runner in the general election contest against former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who won the GOP primary Tuesday. Minnesota voters haven’t elected a Republican to a statewide office since 2006.
Still, Republicans are hoping a fraud scandal involving the widespread theft of public funds will give them an opening up and down the ballot.
“We’ve had a crisis of leadership here. We’ve seen what career politicians have done in this state,” Tafoya told reporters after casting her ballot earlier Tuesday in a Minneapolis suburb. “They’ve brought us to a place of national embarrassment, and this state is ready for change.”
U.S. support for Israel and the influence of corporations and wealthy donors also figured prominently in a race that attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending by allies of both women.
“I love that she doesn’t take any corporate money, she doesn’t take any money from AIPAC,” said Andrea Ropella, a Flanagan supporter, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates. “The things that she says, she believes in and she stands for.”
