RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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JTA — Minnesota Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive who says she would reject AIPAC’s money and accuses Israel of committing genocide, trounced Rep. Angie Craig in the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate on Tuesday.
A pro-Israel candidate in the seat Craig is vacating also went down to Matt Little, a more progressive Israel-critical candidate.
Flanagan beat out Craig 60%-40% with 96 percent of votes counted. She is expected to win the general election in November.
The race, and the candidates’ sparring over AIPAC, comes as the lobby and Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters. Israel is also an issue in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in neighboring Wisconsin taking place on Tuesday.
Craig had been endorsed by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. Flanagan referred to Craig as “AIPAC’s candidate” in the Senate race, which prompted Craig to distance herself from the group’s spending during a TV debate in June.
“AIPAC has not contributed at all, the PAC, to my Senate campaign,” said Craig, whose wife, Cheryl Greene, is Jewish. “Not one penny.”
Flanagan countered that, while AIPAC itself has not donated to Craig’s campaign, it has held fundraisers for the four-term congresswoman. AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment.
Just last week in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated the moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, whose AIPAC endorsement was the frequent target of opposition attacks.
Flanagan has drawn the support of American Priorities, a pro-Palestinian super PAC that aims to counter AIPAC. The group spent about $54,000 on ads boosting her candidacy, according to FEC filings.
Flanagan’s platform includes blocking offensive weapons sales to Israel — a position that all but seven Senate Democrats voted for in April — and advancing a two-state solution that “allows for a secure Israel and Palestinian self-determination.”
Craig, who also backs a two-state outcome, voted against the recent amendment proposed by Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie that would have halted $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel.
In a statement explaining her vote, Craig panned Netanyahu and the war in Iran, but wrote that the amendment would endanger Israelis and American troops and allies in the region.
After the vote, Flanagan wrote, “A vote to send $3.3 billion of taxpayer money to fund additional weapons of war to Benjamin Netanyahu is unconscionable. Enough.”
Craig had the endorsement of a number of Democrats in Congress and the Senate, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She was also endorsed by lobbying group Democratic Majority for Israel, former Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg, and Minneapolis’ Jewish mayor, Jacob Frey, who rose to national prominence for his response to the deadly results of the deployment of immigrant enforcement officials in his city.
Flanagan drew endorsements from a swath of major progressive figures including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and outspoken pro-Palestinian Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Flanagan is also endorsed by the state’s Democratic Party affiliate, the Democratic Farmer Labor Party, which may have been key to her win.
On Sunday Sanders posted on X, “There is a reason why the super PACs and billionaires are flooding Minnesota with $20 million to defeat Peggy Flanagan. Same thing as Michigan. They do not want somebody in the Senate who will stand up for the working class.”
There is a reason why the super PACs and billionaires are flooding Minnesota with $20 million to defeat Peggy Flanagan.
They do not want somebody in the Senate who will stand up for the working class. pic.twitter.com/bsVv4wVXom
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 10, 2026
In the Democratic primary race for the House seat that Craig is vacating, Matt Little, the former mayor of Lakeville who is another Israel-critical progressive, defeated State Sen. Matt Klein, who had pro-Israel endorsements. “AIPAC is coming after me,” Little said in a campaign video. Little defeated Klein 47% to 30%, with 95% of the vote counted.
Klein had expressed support for the US-Israel relationship and was endorsed by DMFI. Last-minute spending by outside groups has sparked accusations that AIPAC is indirectly involved.
Little and state Rep. Kaela Berg, who came in third, both accused Israel of committing a genocide, and both speculated that AIPAC was behind some of the Klein spending.
Little says the US must end all military aid and weapons sales to Israel. On the policy page of his campaign website, Little refers to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack as “an act of wanton slaughter against innocent civilians” and says that people should condemn “the anti-Semitism that followed.”
Like Flanagan, Little was boosted by American Priorities, which spent about $64,000 in his favor. He was also endorsed by the DFL and Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
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