Minnesota Primary Results: Flanagan, Tafoya Win Senate Races; Klobuchar, Demuth Advance

On Tuesday, August 11, 2026, Minnesota voters chose party nominees for an open U.S. Senate seat, an open governorship, U.S. House districts, and the state legislature. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya won their respective Senate primaries, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar and state House Speaker Lisa Demuth advanced in the governor’s race as vote tallies continued to update into August 12.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. CT. The night delivered another win for progressive Democrats in a high-profile Senate primary — one week after Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan — and set up a historic all-woman contest for Minnesota governor in November.

Editor’s note: This article draws on reporting from the Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News, and the Star Tribune as of late August 11–12, 2026. Vote totals may change as counties finish canvassing.

U.S. Senate: Flanagan vs. Tafoya in November

The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith became a proxy fight over the party’s direction — and a test of whether Minnesota’s progressive wing could beat the establishment.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) primary

Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor and a prominent progressive, defeated centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig with a campaign focused on confronting corporate influence and Republican President Donald Trump.

Candidate	Approx. share (late night)
Peggy Flanagan	~59%
Angie Craig	~40%
Kurt Anderson	~1%

Flanagan held the DFL state endorsement and drew support from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who rallied with her in the campaign’s final weeks. Retiring Sen. Smith also backed her.

Craig, who has represented the suburban 2nd Congressional District since 2018, lined up establishment allies including House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and battleground-state senators. She argued her record of winning tight House races made her the stronger general-election candidate.

The contest was shaped in part by federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. After immigration agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Flanagan highlighted Craig’s earlier vote for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that passed early in Trump’s second term. Craig later repudiated that support. Outside spending on both sides reached tens of millions of dollars, with corporate donors and AIPAC-aligned groups among the biggest players.

Gov. Tim Walz did not endorse either candidate. Late in the race, his wife Gwen Walz endorsed Craig — a move widely read as a break with Flanagan, Walz’s two-term governing partner.

Republican primary

Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter turned political commentator, won the GOP nomination in her first run for elected office.

Candidate	Approx. share (late night)
Michele Tafoya	~53%
Adam Schwarze	~24%
Royce White	~11%

Tafoya had support from national Republican groups. Adam Schwarze, a retired Navy SEAL, carried the state GOP convention endorsement but could not overcome Tafoya’s name recognition. Royce White, a former NBA player and conservative activist, finished a distant third.

President Trump did not endorse in the Senate race. Flanagan enters the general election as the favorite in a state that has not elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006.

Governor: Klobuchar and Demuth set historic matchup

With Gov. Tim Walz stepping aside after a fraud scandal engulfed state government, Minnesota held its first open governor’s race in eight years.

DFL primary

Amy Klobuchar won the Democratic nomination by a wide margin, becoming her party’s presumptive successor to Walz.

Candidate	Approx. share (late night)
Amy Klobuchar	~90%
Kobey Layne	~6%
Others	~4%

Klobuchar, a four-term senator, has won every federal race by double digits and entered the primary as the overwhelming favorite. She is the first woman to win the DFL nomination for governor.

Republican primary

Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House, defeated a crowded field that included Trump-backed Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and prominent election denier.

Candidate	Approx. share (late night)
Lisa Demuth	~44%
Mike Lindell	~32%
Kendall Qualls	~22%

Demuth became the first woman nominated for governor by Minnesota Republicans and the first Black woman nominated for governor by a major party in the state. Trump posted on social media Tuesday morning that Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN”, but many state Republicans viewed Demuth as the more electable choice against Klobuchar.

A recent Minnesota Poll showed Klobuchar leading Demuth 48% to 40% among registered voters before the primary.

Klobuchar and Demuth’s wins set up an all-woman race for governor — a first in Minnesota history.

Context: fraud scandal and a competitive state

Republicans hope a sprawling public-benefits fraud scandal will give them an opening despite Minnesota’s long blue streak at the statewide level. At least 65 people have been convicted in overlapping food-fraud cases; one nonprofit leader received a 42-year sentence in a $250 million scheme. Walz abandoned his bid for a third term as the scandal dominated headlines.

Trump cited the fraud cases to justify a major immigration crackdown that he initially said would target Minnesota’s large Somali American community. The issue hung over the primary and is likely to define the general election.

Minnesota is more competitive than its recent statewide history suggests. Hillary Clinton won the state by only 1.5 points in 2016; Kamala Harris carried it by 4 points in 2024 even with Walz on the ticket. Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the state Senate, and the House is evenly split.

Congressional and down-ballot races

Beyond the top of the ticket, Minnesota’s primary set the stage for several competitive November races:

2nd Congressional District

Craig’s Senate run opened the 2nd District — Minnesota’s most closely divided House seat. Democrats faced a crowded primary to replace her; Republicans also chose a nominee in a district Trump won by roughly seven points in 2024. Results were still being tabulated as of late August 11.

5th Congressional District

In the heavily Democratic 5th District, the DFL primary to succeed or challenge Rep. Ilhan Omar drew national attention as a test of the party’s left flank. Vote counts were ongoing.

Other House primaries

Contested primaries were also underway in additional districts, including the 1st, 3rd**, 6th**, 7th**, and 8th. The Associated Press and other outlets projected winners in several races as returns came in; legislative and local contests across the state continued to update.

What comes next

Winners in close House primaries may not be official for days. Minnesota allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive afterward, and counties must certify results before the state declares final nominees.

The general election is November 3. At stake: control of a Senate seat Democrats must hold, a governorship Republicans have not won since 2006, and several House districts that could help decide the balance of Congress.

Flanagan’s win adds to a string of progressive primary victories that have energized the party’s left — and worried some Democratic leaders about swing voters. Republicans, meanwhile, are betting that fraud, immigration, and fatigue with one-party state control can finally break their statewide drought.

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Discussion

Minnesota’s primary reshaped the November ballot and deepened a national debate over how far left Democrats should run in battleground states.

1. Did Minnesota Democrats pick the stronger Senate nominee by choosing Flanagan over Craig?

Flanagan’s progressive platform won decisively, but Craig argued she could better appeal to suburban independents. In a state Harris won by only four points, does ideology or electability matter more?

2. Can Republicans finally win statewide office by running on the fraud scandal?

Demuth is widely seen as the GOP’s best general-election bet, but no Republican has won a Minnesota statewide race in two decades. Does the fraud investigation change the math — or is the state’s partisan lean too strong?

Share which November race you expect to be closest and whether immigration, fraud, or the economy will drive your vote.