Another Democratic Primary Candidate Defeats Millions in Dark Money

Democratic Nominee for U.S. Senate in Minnesota Peggy Flanagan says, “It’s time to fight for what people actually need.”

Need hope that we can defeat Big Money in politics?

Let’s take a moment to celebrate: Dark money super PACs just spent roughly $20 million trying to defeat Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, an unapologetic progressive, in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, and the deluge of dark money didn’t work: Flanagan won by nearly 20 points.

Flanagan made fighting corruption a central part of her campaign message. “Too many Minnesotans are working hard and still failing behind. An unexpected car repair becomes a financial emergency. A trip to the grocery store includes telling their child to put something back on the shelf. People are skipping the doctor because they’re afraid of the bill,” Flanagan wrote in The Minnesota Star Tribune. “This is the consequence of a broken political system that puts billionaires, corporations and powerful interests ahead of working people.”

End Citizens United made an early and consequential decision to endorse Flanagan in the primary back in February. Even though ECU had previously endorsed her opponent, Rep. Angie Craig, in her House races, supporting Flanagan became the clear choice when she joined ECU’s Unrig Washington campaign, refusing corporate PAC money, committing to take on dark money, and supporting a ban on Congressional stock trading..

“Lt. Gov. Flanagan has spent her career taking on those fights, from raising the minimum wage to championing paid family and medical leave,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “By rejecting corporate PAC money, she’s making it clear that she answers to Minnesotans, not corporate special interests.”

Flanagan was able to cite ECU’s endorsement to back up her stated commitment to refusing special interest money. For example, she said on Fox 9 Morning Sunday, “I’m the only candidate who’s supported by End Citizens United because I want to be beholden to Minnesotans and one else.”

Flanagan’s win is a massive victory in the fight against the wealthy special interests influencing elections, corrupting our democracy, and harming regular people while enriching megadonors. This race reinforces what we saw when Abdul El-Sayed defeated over $60 million in outside spending to win the Michigan Senate primary and Juliana Stratton defeated more than $10 million in AI spending in the Illinois primary: A candidate who promises to work for everyday people, not special interests, can defeat megadonors and corporations and win even the toughest races.

“It’s time to fight for what people actually need,” Flanagan told the Guardian. “And so often I think Democrats are like: “What do we think we can win? Instead of: What are the fights that we should be picking?”

Flanagan is picking the right fights. Throughout her campaign, she called out crypto, AIPAC, health insurance companies, Big Oil, billionaires, and dark money groups repeatedly and by name. She drew the direct connection between her opponent’s funders and the issues that matter most in Americans’ lives.

At a rally in Saint Paul, Flanagan told the crowd:

“There are some very powerful interests that are fighting like hell to protect the status quo. Super PACs and secretive dark money groups have already spent more than $15 million trying to defeat me, trying to defeat us, to buy this Senate seat. And that’s more money than has ever been spent before in a primary election in Minnesota. And you know what? It’s pretty gross.

They’re spending a million dollars a week — or $142,857 a day to defeat us. They’re spending all of this money filling our televisions and phones with nasty ads and AI-generated lies. And here’s the deal: it’s left Minnesotans asking the simple question, who is spending this money and why? These outside groups aren’t spending millions of dollars because they care about how much your groceries cost. They’re doing it because they know Angie Craig will do their bidding, and I won’t.”

This race is also a sign that the midterm elections will be a referendum on the failures – and the extreme violence – of the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration has enacted incredible harm in Minnesota, including ICE injuring many people and murdering two U.S. citizens. This month, Minnesotans came out in very high numbers, and they rejected the Republican candidates that supported Trump’s ICE campaign. According to her campaign, Flanagan won more votes last night than the entire field of Republican Senate candidates combined. There was massive turnout: It was the highest voter turnout in a Minnesota state primary ever.

Flanagan is the model of what a Democratic candidate can achieve when they tell voters loudly and clearly that they’re in it to win for the many, not the money.