The last time Minnesota voted Republican for president was Richard Nixon in 1972.
The state hasn’t voted for a Republican senator since 2002, when Norm Coleman won a seat he'd lose six years later to Al Franken. Republicans have talked themselves into believing the state might break their way every cycle since, and Minnesota voters have declined to cooperate every time. Barack Obama carried the state by double digits in 2008. Hillary Clinton won it by less than two points in 2016. In 2024, Kamala Harris only won the state by four points, even with home-state Gov. Tim Walz on the ticket.
Despite the those close races, Democrats expected Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.) to cruise into the open seat. She had to fight for it first. Rep. Angie Craig, the more centrist option, lost the August primary to Flanagan's progressive coalition, built with help from Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
According to a fresh survey by Quantus Insights, Flanagan leads 48.2 percent, to Michele Tafoya’s 44.4 percent, a lead within the poll’s margin of error. In terms of public opinion, 50 percent rate Flanagan favorably while 46 percent rate her unfavorably, and 42.4 percent rate Tafoya favorably with 42 percent rating her unfavorably.
Other surveys confirm the race has tightened.
A poll conducted by TIPP Insights for the League of American Workers, surveyed 1,201 likely voters and showed Flanagan leading by only two points, with the independents divided equally between the two candidates at 37% each.
“Into the home stretch of campaign season, such a tight race in a normally safe Democrat bastion presents a big headache for national party operatives and donors,” writes Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers.
“Clearly, they will have to invest heavily to try to convince voters that radical Flanagan belongs in the U.S. Senate.”
According to Cortes, Tafoya is exactly the kind of candidate who can break the Democrats’ winning streak.
“Tafoya represents exactly the kind of candidate that works in this current political and media environment,” he explained.
“A longtime popular sideline football TV reporter, she is known to legions of fans as one of the best, most skilled broadcasters in sports. Tafoya’s superb media skills were honed over decades on camera before truly record-breaking TV audiences.”
The tightness of these polls is quite remarkable considering the state became ground zero for the administration's expanded immigration enforcement this year. Federal immigration officers fatally shot two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, during Operation Metro Surge. The shootings turned the city into a flashpoint. However, a slew of state fraud investigations has embarrassed Democratic officials. Gov. Tim Walz’s approval ratings are also underwater, with 46% disapproving and 42% approving.
Despite the closeness of these polls, prediction markets haven't gotten the memo yet.
Polymarket shows Flanagan's odds of winning above 90%, with Tafoya at under 10%.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 19:20Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
An attorney for John Brennan on Sept. 14 said the former CIA director was subpoenaed to testify next month before a grand jury as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into whether former intelligence and law enforcement officials illegally conspired against President Donald Trump.
In a court filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein confirmed that Brennan was asked by a federal prosecutor this past week to testify before a federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Oct. 15.
Wainstein said in a declaration to the court that he and other Brennan attorneys participated in a conference call with several prosecutors to discuss the grand jury subpoena for Brennan. DOJ senior attorney Kurt Olsen indicated to the defense team that there are several "viable" investigations into Brennan, Wainstein said.
That includes the one in Fort Pierce that includes "issues at Mar-a-Lago and beyond" regarding whether Trump "had his civil rights violated," he wrote.
Paraphrasing Olsen, Wainstein added that he was told of an "additional investigation relating only to Director Brennan's statements before Congress in the District of Columbia" and that Brennan is being targeted in a narrower investigation that Olsen described as being "still viable."
"The issues in the narrower investigation might also be part of the larger investigation," Wainstein wrote, also referring to what Olsen said.
The subpoena was delivered on the same day that Joe diGenova, the prosecutor who had been leading the collusion investigation, resigned from the department.
"It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department," diGenova said, declining to give details on why he stepped down.
His inquiry investigated the 2017 U.S. intelligence finding that Russia sought to boost Trump's first presidential campaign in 2016. It also probed later inquiries by former special counsel Jack Smith, including Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his challenge of the 2020 election results.
No criminal charges have emerged from the Florida investigation.
While speaking to Politico, diGenova suggested that he does not want to move quickly on any case he's involved in.
"I take my time when I bring cases," diGenova said. "Whatever the facts show, they show. However long that takes to do it properly, it takes. Sometimes it takes longer than some people want, and they want things done faster, and that's just not possible sometimes. So, as a result, there are disagreements about timing, and that happens all the time in the Department of Justice."
Brennan has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers sued the DOJ in July, asking a court to force officials to preserve documents tied to the investigations.
His lawsuit said the department had undertaken grand jury work in recent months but had not formally indicted Brennan. His legal team alleged in a filing that "this Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President's perceived adversaries."
In the Monday court filing, Wainstein indicated that he got a grand jury subpoena that was signed by diGenova and wrote emails to him before he resigned from the position.
Brennan served as President Barack Obama's CIA head from 2013 to 2017, and he is now a commentator for NBC News and MSNBC. Since Trump's rise to political prominence, Brennan has frequently used his commentary to criticize the president.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 19:15