MINNEAPOLIS — Rep. Angie Craig announced on May 27, 2026, that she would not seek the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement at the state convention and instead run in the August 11 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. The decision clears the way for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to secure the DFL endorsement in the race for Minnesota’s open Senate seat, created by Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement.

Craig said, “I’m a proud DFLer. Every letter has meaning to me. But the DFL endorsement process just doesn’t reflect the full scope of the party that we are. And the purple state that we have become.” She added that the endorsement will be decided by fewer than one in 500 of the Minnesotans who vote in the August primary, citing a total of 12,000 convention participants.

Flanagan responded critically to Craig’s withdrawal. “I’m disappointed Rep. Craig chose to leave the process before delegates had the opportunity to cast their votes and have their voices heard,” she said. Flanagan also posted on X, “If you can’t face your own party, you’re not ready to face a Republican.” She asserted her campaign had “earned overwhelming support from Democrats across the state because we met people where they were and we listened.”

The primary contest between Craig and Flanagan has centered on immigration enforcement, following the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis earlier in 2026, which led to the shooting deaths of two people. Craig voted in 2025 for the Laken Riley Act but said earlier in 2026 that she regretted that vote.

Political analyst Steven Schier said, “I think Craig dropping out of the endorsement process indicates that she felt it would be bad for her campaign to even contest it at this point since she was not likely to be endorsed. It’ll be a very interesting test in the primary of the power of the endorsement.”

Craig had $4.9 million in campaign funds on hand at the end of March 2026, compared to Flanagan’s $1.9 million. Polls have shown Flanagan leading Craig, and she has earned support from several progressives. Despite forgoing the endorsement, Craig’s path is not without precedent: in 2018, then-Rep. Tim Walz lost the DFL endorsement but won the gubernatorial primary and served two terms as governor. In 2010, former Sen. Mark Dayton also dropped out of the endorsement process before narrowly winning the DFL gubernatorial nomination and serving two terms as governor.