MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� In the streets surrounding a drab federal office complex next to the Minneapolis airport, the beleaguered resistance to found its footing.
As U.S. immigration agents staged at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building for a monthslong , protesters with whistles and cellphone cameras assembled to oppose them. in the city’s streets before Trump pulled back under pressure.
Months later, those confrontations remain the backdrop to Minnesota’s on Tuesday, which features establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and the more progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. The immigration debate is an added schism in a race that otherwise echoes many of the other left versus center divides that have played out across the United States this year.
Craig voted for tighter enforcement soon after Trump returned to office last year, only to later express regret for her decision after the Republican president sent a surge of agents into Minneapolis. She backed a resolution that condemned antisemitism after a in Boulder, Colorado, and expressed thanks for law enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Those votes may turn out to be some of the most fraught of Craig’s eight-year career in Congress, decisions that Flanagan has highlighted while trying to portray her rival as unwilling to fight an unpopular administration in Washington.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 when she lost my vote permanently and that鈥檚 why I will not vote for her no matter what,” said Bryce Bohne, 40, of Minneapolis. The teacher and owner of an educational tourism company is supporting Flanagan.
Around the Whipple federal building, the fences and barriers are down. The ambient soundtrack is no longer the whistles and chants of protesters, just the rumble of departing jets and passing buses.
But the signs of what happened remain. A few volunteers in bright orange vests keep vigil across the street for 12-plus hours a day, ready to help people getting released from immigration detention or leaving hearings at the immigration court inside.
A few miles away, visitors still bring fresh flowers and handwritten notes to memorials marking the spots and were killed.
Craig is no stranger to tough races, but until now the heat was from the right
Craig flipped a Republican-held seat in 2018, and every two years she overcame millions of dollars of attack ads to win tough reelection campaigns.
Until Craig’s Senate run, the heat came from the right. Newly under fire from the other side, the decisions she made as a swing-seat congresswoman have become a liability as a statewide Senate candidate. At one recent event, she adopted the language of the insurgent left, though it did not always seem to come naturally.
鈥淭he working class keeps getting screwed,鈥� she told volunteers preparing to knock on doors for her Saturday in Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb. 鈥淔olks, I don鈥檛 know about you, but it is time that we had a working folks reno鈥� reso鈥� renovation鈥�”
Here, she took a breath.
“鈥攔evolution in this country.鈥�
In Craig’s view, she is well suited to the antiestablishment fervor gaining a foothold in the Democratic Party. Raised by a single mother in an Arkansas trailer park, she has known economic hardship. The lesbian mother of four grown children, she is not the archetype of a traditional member of Congress.
She was one of the House Democrats to call for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race after his disastrous debate performance against Trump. As a relatively junior member of Congress, she pushed successfully to become the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, jumping ahead of long-tenured colleagues.
鈥淚 consider myself a progressive鈥� she told reporters after her event Saturday. 鈥淓very race that I run, Republicans run ads against me saying I vote with Democrats 96, 97% of the time.鈥�
鈥淥f course, in the primary,鈥� she added, 鈥減eople want to point out the few votes I鈥檝e taken against Democrats.鈥�
鈥業 regret my vote,鈥� Craig wrote in a mea culpa
Chief among them was the , the first bill passed by Congress after Trump started his second term. It requires federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes.
Craig and nearly 60 other Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the bill early in 2025.
But at the end of the year, as immigration officers descended on Minneapolis, that vote became a liability. Weeks after Good and Pretti were killed, Craig published a mea culpa in a Minnesota Star Tribune column.
Craig explained that although she had qualms with parts of the law, it had the support of Democrats she respected, and many of her constituents were unhappy with the situation on the border under Biden.
But the 鈥渙utright occupation by aggressive, unaccountable federal forces鈥� made clear to her 鈥渢hat supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision. And I regret my vote.”
Trump’s immigration operation, she says, was not enabled by her vote on the Laken Riley Act.
鈥淏efore that, people had a little bit more sensibility about the fact she was in a tough district and had to take tough votes,鈥� said Corey Day, former executive director of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
Craig has since presented herself as a strong defender of Minnesotans against Trump. She says her record of winning tough races positions her to ensure the seat stays in Democratic hands.
鈥淎ngie has experience working across demographics that we need to win over statewide, including in rural Minnesota,鈥� said Kevin Anderson, a Hennepin County commissioner who is supporting Craig and went to one of her weekend events. 鈥淚 love Peggy, I really do, she鈥檚 a great politician. But I don鈥檛 think she鈥檚 ever had to work across Minnesota.鈥�
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has declined to endorse either candidate for the seat held by Democrat Tina Smith, who is not running again. Late last month his wife, Gwen Walz, endorsed Craig over Flanagan, his governing partner for two terms.
The Republican field includes , a former NFL sideline reporter.
Flanagan supporters are suspicious of Craig
To Flanagan and her supporters, Craig鈥檚 vote for the immigration bill was not a pragmatic overture to swing voters but a betrayal.
鈥淢y primary opponent voted for Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration bill and was the only Minnesota Democrat to do so,鈥� Flanagan told volunteers in St. Paul on Saturday. 鈥淪he since then has said that she regrets that vote, and I鈥檓 glad. But it shouldn鈥檛 have taken 14 months.鈥�
鈥淲e can stand with the immigrant community and not just when it鈥檚 politically expedient for us,鈥� Flanagan added.
Like Abdul El-Sayed, who won last week鈥檚 Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, Flanagan supports Medicare for All and wants to curtail U.S. military support for Israel. She is running as much against the donors who have spent millions of dollars backing Craig as she is against Craig herself.
鈥淭he fact that the money is coming from us and only us makes such a huge difference, because she鈥檚 beholden to us, not some billionaire with some business or crypto interest,鈥� said 43-year-old Flanagan supporter Justin Ropella, a customer service manager from Woodbury.
Through July 22, Craig’s campaign had spent $9 million and Flanagan’s $5.5 million. The disparity was even higher among outside groups, with Craig backers spending considerably more, though both have benefited from an influx of outside spending.
To help make up the difference, Flanagan has called on the support of progressive champions such as Sen. Bernie Sanders the Vermont independent who campaigned with her last month.
鈥淚f the people of Minnesota can stand up — and I鈥檓 confident that they can — and tell these billionaires and their lies and their 30-second ads and their super PACs to go to hell, democracy is going to reign,鈥� Sanders said.
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