Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan holds a Minnesota Senate seat for Democrats

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeated Republican Michele Tafoya in the Minnesota Senate race, NBC News projects, keeping the seat in Democrats’ column.Flanagan will become the first Native American woman to be elected to the Senate. Democrat Mary Peltola, who’s running for the Senate in Alaska, is also Native American. The result is also a victory for the progressive wing of the party. Flanagan, who defeated a more moderate opponent to win the nomination this summer, supports “Medicare for All,” national paid family and medical leave and dismantling ICE. While Minnesota has leaned blue in recent cycles, Republicans eyed the seat as a potential target in the wake of fraud scandals that roiled the state. In one fraud case, people are alleged to have stolen $250 million from a Covid-related program that was supposed to go toward providing children with meals. The Justice Department announced criminal charges this year against more than a dozen people in Minnesota, accusing them of defrauding Medicaid and other social services of more than $90 million.Republican Michele Tafoya.Ellen Schmidt / AP The administration sought to tie fraud cases to immigration, leading to enforcement actions, protests and high-profile violence.The former leader of the nonprofit at the center of the $250 million fraud case is white, and prosecutors have said most of the defendants are of Somali descent. President Donald Trump seized on the fact and repeatedly denigrated immigrants from Somalia. In an interview The Minnesota Star Tribune published last month, Flanagan said that any fraud was “completely unacceptable” and that “more should have been done sooner.” Asked in the interview whether she bore responsibility, she said Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, “is the one who took the lead on fraud.”Late last year, federal immigration agents launched operations in Minneapolis, and early this year, immigration enforcement shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The killings sparked widespread condemnation from critics, who pointed to the shootings as evidence of an out-of-control and unaccountable enforcement agency. Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster, was a first-time candidate who framed herself as a political outsider. She supported deporting immigrants who are convicted of fraud and said she would push for new mandatory minimum sentences for fraud crimes. The seat is open after Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, announced last year that she would not seek another term. Republicans have long sought to put Minnesota in play. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried the state by only 4 percentage points in the 2024 election, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar cruised to re-election by 16 points.