<p>Frustration with a sprawling fraud scandal has cut Peggy Flanagan’s poll lead – could ex-NFL reporter Michele Tafoya win a first statewide election for Republicans in 20 years?</p><p>As Democrats fight to regain control of the US Senate, hopes are rising in states – from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/20/kansas-senate-race-democrat-adam-hamilton">Kansas</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/18/ken-paxton-texas-senate-scandal-midterms">Texas</a> – where they have not prevailed in decades. But in Minnesota, where Republicans have not won statewide election since 2006, the contest for an open Senate seat is closer than expected.</p><p>Should Peggy Flanagan – the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor – win the election, she will be the first Native American woman to serve in the US Senate. But history has not yet been made. The closely watched Cook Political Report <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/senate/senate-overview/senate-south-carolina-mississippi-minnesota">shifted its rating</a> on the race this week from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/22/minnesota-senate-race-peggy-flanagan-michele-tafoya">Continue reading...</a>
World
In reliably blue Minnesota, could Democrats do the unthinkable and lose a Senate seat?
<p>Frustration with a sprawling fraud scandal has cut Peggy Flanagan’s poll lead – could ex-NFL reporter Michele Tafoya win a first statewide election for Republicans in 20 years?</p><p>As Democrats fight to regain control of the US Senate, hopes are rising in states – from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/20/kansas-senate-race-democrat-adam-hamilton">Kansas</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/18/ken-paxton-texas-senate-scandal-midterms">Texas</a> – where they have not prevailed in decades. But in Minnesota, where Republicans have not won statewide election since 2006, the contest for an open Senate seat is closer than expected.</p><p>Should Peggy Flanagan – the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor – win the election, she will be the first Native American woman to serve in the US Senate. But history has not yet been made. The closely watched Cook Political Report <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/senate/senate-overview/senate-south-carolina-mississippi-minnesota">shifted its rating</a> on the race this week from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/22/minnesota-senate-race-peggy-flanagan-michele-tafoya">Continue reading...</a>