Retiring Sen. Tina Smith has endorsed Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the race to replace her in the U.S. Senate.
Citing their long relationship working together in Minnesota, Smith said in a statement she was endorsing Flanagan because the U.S. Senate needs “leaders who have the courage to take bold action, challenge the status quo and fight for people, so they can be safe and afford their lives.”
Smith’s endorsement is a departure from her plans last year to not back any of the candidates vying to succeed her.
“It is not my job to pick my successor,“ Smith said during an interview last February after she announced her plans to retire. ”That’s up to the voters of Minnesota to do."
It comes at a time when the once relatively cordial Democratic primary to replace Smith between Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig has started to heat up amid President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
Flanagan is criticizing Craig for her past positions on immigration, including voting for the Laken Riley Act, a bill that allows for the detention and possible deportation of undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for some nonviolent crimes. Meanwhile, Craig has been critical of Flanagan for her role in the state’s Medicaid fraud crisis as part of Gov. Tim Walz’s administration.
“Angie Craig has shown she’s the fighter Minnesotans need to hold the powerful accountable,” said Craig campaign spokesperson Antoine Givens. “As Republicans attack the Lt. Governor over fraud, it’s clear that the best candidate to keep this seat blue is Angie Craig.”
Smith’s backing of Flanagan adds to her growing list of endorsements from sitting lawmakers in Congress. Flanagan has established herself as the progressive in the race, with the backing of big-name lawmakers on the left, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
