Cook Shifts Minnesota Senate Race to Lean Democrat as Flanagan Holds 4-Point Edge
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 22
Cook Shifts Minnesota Senate Race to Lean Democrat as Flanagan Holds 4-Point Edge
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 22
Summary
Cook Political Report moved Minnesota’s open Senate race from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat,” signaling a tighter-than-expected contest for Democrat Peggy Flanagan against Republican Michele Tafoya.
A 4-point Flanagan lead in the latest Minnesota Star Tribune poll helps explain the downgrade, with her margin trailing the stronger statewide advantage posted by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in the governor’s race.
Flanagan’s biggest drag is her link to Governor Tim Walz’s administration, where a sprawling social-services fraud scandal has fueled voter frustration and helped make the open-seat race more competitive.
Tafoya has tried to widen that opening by branding herself a pragmatic, pro-choice Republican and distancing herself at times from Trump, though she has not clearly defined her abortion stance and has not drawn major national GOP spending.
Minnesota Republicans have not won a statewide race in 20 years, and Trump’s weak standing in the state still gives Flanagan room to frame Tafoya as a potential vote for the president.