Peggy Flanagan makes history as first Native American woman elected to U.S. Senate
Only one of Peggy Flanagan’s names was on the ballot. Minnesota voters elected her the first Native American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.
At the DFL watch party in St. Paul, people cheered, hugged and wiped away tears. During Flanagan’s victory speech, the crowd chanted, “Peggy.” A few minutes later, she shared her Ojibwe name, which means “Speaks in a Loud and Clear Voice Woman.” She introduced herself as a daughter of the White Earth Nation.
“I have to say that I can’t quite believe that I am standing here as the next United States senator,” Flanagan told the crowd.
Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, defeated Republican and former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya by about 54% to 44%. She will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.
Teresa Melendez, a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi from southwest Michigan, and Lindsey Oppenhein, who is Te-Moak Shoshone from Nevada, came to Minnesota to campaign for Flanagan. They spent part of Election Day knocking on doors in the Twin Cities’ urban Indigenous community. Hours later, they watched Flanagan make history.
“On our Indigenous lands and our traditional homelands, we can hold these offices,” Melendez said. “Peggy’s bulldozing the way for more of us to follow.”
Oppenhein said she had been waiting a long time to see a Native American woman elected to the Senate.
“I’m 25,” she said. “I’ve never had this in my life, and I did nothing but cry tonight.”
Flanagan called for new voices to shake up her own party and said elected officials had a duty to deliver for the people who put them in office.
“You fought for me, and now I’m going to fight for you.”
In Washington, Flanagan said she would push to lower costs, end insurance prior authorization requirements and pass Medicare for All. She also called for right-to-repair protections that would allow farmers to fix their own equipment.
On immigration, she said she would work to replace U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a system grounded in “public safety for everybody” and “due process, which, by the way, is still a part of our Constitution.”
It was a big night for the Minnesota DFL. The party won the governor’s race and will control both chambers of the state Legislature. Minneapolis DFL Chair Ayana Smith-Kooiman said affordability should be a priority in the next legislative session.
“What we heard on the campaign trail is that groceries are too high, gas is too high, and people just can’t afford to be living right now in this country,” Smith-Kooiman said.
Before becoming lieutenant governor in 2019, Flanagan served on the Minneapolis school board and in the Minnesota House. As lieutenant governor, she helped establish Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, the first of its kind in the country, according to the governor’s office. She also helped advance paid family leave and universal school meals.
Flanagan’s six-year Senate term begins Jan. 3, 2027. Ben Schierer, who ran alongside Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar, is set to become Minnesota’s lieutenant governor the following day.
Flanagan connected her victory to a kitchen table in St. Louis Park. From there, she said, her campaign grew in places such as the basement of the Hibbing Public Library, cafes, churches and union halls.
St. Louis Park is also where her mother, Pat Flanagan, raised her with help from public programs, including Medicaid and food assistance, according to the DFL.
In her speech, Flanagan remembered her late mother and father. She spoke about her mother’s strength and resilience, which she said gave her the confidence to believe “that a kid like me could one day stand on a stage like this one.”
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