Despite the millions spent against her in the primary, which she won 60/40, and the millions spent in the general with a decent (by MAGA standards) Republican opponent, Peggy Flanagan won with 54% of the vote. Amy Klobuchar, who had no primary opponent, and a weak opponent in the general, got 56% of the vote. Anyone who wants to make a point about “centrists winning better” does so without context, at least in Minnesota. Here’s what Peggy said after she was elected:
Flanagan is almost always smiling, but she’s not smiling when she says “We will rip ICE apart.” This is the right answer and attitude towards ICE if you’re a Minnesota politician, or a Democrat, really. Flanagan’s primary opponent, Angie Craig, will probably be appointed by Klobuchar to replace her, but she’s not popular because she thought her Laken Riley vote was smart. It wasn’t:
The guy who replaced “moderate” Angie Craig, Matt Little, is not the kind of guy who’s going to vote for Laken Riley. His victory speech isn’t an amazing feat of rhetoric, but it is an incredible artifact of determination and resolve:
All these issues that you talked about, they’re going to say, “that’s great. I know you had to do that and say those things, and we understand that. But now that you’re elected, what do you really believe? And maybe you should stop talking about certain issues.”
They don’t know me […] I can’t be bought. I’m not for sale. […] I’m not going to bow down to the AI overlords. […] Let me talk about two more issues that I’ve been told time and time again to shut up about. […] Time and time again I’ve been told (whispers) “I’m with you. Let’s just focus on affordability. These things don’t poll well.” […]
What’s happening in Gaza is a genocide. […] It’s time for the first time in my life that we stop sending weapons and military aid to Israel. (big applause). […]
When I put my kid on the bus, I don’t worry about who’s she’s going to play against in soccer. […] I worry about her safety. I worry about getting that damn text that the school’s on lockdown.
This is the winner of a D+3 district, one where the conventional wisdom is that you need to “moderate” your positions. Welp, I guess Matt Little didn’t get the memo. Little wants a fight. Flanagan wants a fight. The people who elected them want a fight. And, as Little notes, that fight starts in the Democratic Party.
I’ve seen some complaining from otherwise reasonable people that we should just celebrate this victory and not fight. We shouldn’t be fighting to get rid of Jeffries and Schumer. People are afraid of the fight, that it will cause a rift in the party that will make us less ready for 2028.
I have the opposite opinion. This fight has been happening, whether quietly in the background as in Matt Little’s case, or openly via the massive AIPAC contributions to Angie Craig that were happening even after she tried to distance herself from them. That was a fight. It was divisive. Flanagan won it, as did Little, as did El-Sayed. The fight is going to continue because people like Flanagan and Little hold positions that aren’t popular with the donors who back Jeffries and Schumer. The 40% of the Minnesota DFL who supported Angie Craig didn’t go home and not vote — clearly, they came out, and the vast majority of them voted for Peggy Flanagan. Perhaps the primary was divisive, but it wasn’t fatal.
This fight is between the donors who back some Democrats and the rest of us. The donors don’t want Medicare for All, but the voters do (73% of Democrats, according to the KFF). There is no affordability until the war in Iran is over. No matter the millions poured into AIPAC, Democrats aren’t happy with Israel in Gaza, plus a vast majority of Jewish voters think Israeli action in the West Bank and AIPAC both increase anti-semitism. The reason we’re having a fight about Jeffries and Schumer is because the Democratic base just voted for things that they have historically opposed, and also the Democratic base wants fighting words. There’s no reason to be scared of this fight, and unless we have it out in the open, the donor-driven establishment will have it behind closed doors.
