Top Minnesota Democrat ‘could absolutely lose’ to Republican amid Minnesota fraud fallout, says insider

Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor and progressive Democratic Senate candidate, is going through criticism, together with from inside her personal social gathering, for her management in what’s being described because the nation’s largest fraud scheme within the COVID period.

Together with Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, Flanagan, who has helped lead the state as lieutenant governor since 2019, has come underneath fireplace for permitting the fraud scheme to develop on her watch.

A Democratic operative from Minnesota advised Fox Information Digital that Flanagan “might completely lose to a Republican, given all of the fraud that occurred throughout her time as lieutenant governor.”

“Right this moment is the day Peggy’s race for Senate successfully ended,” the Democratic operative stated.

FRAUD FALLOUT FORCES DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. TIM WALZ LOWERS MINNESOTA’S RE-ELECTION BID

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan speaks as Gov. Tim Walz, proper, listens. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune by way of Getty Photographs)

“Listed here are the details: Peggy Flanagan was already a foul candidate for the final election, and this has made it worse,” the agent continued, including, “She owes voters solutions about what she knew and when.”

Home Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., whose district contains the Twin Cities suburbs, advised Fox Information Digital that “Peggy Flanagan is as huge a failure as Tim Walz.”

He famous that Flanagan’s predominant opponent, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, “is not a lot better.”

“Each candidates sat idly by as billions had been stolen from hardworking taxpayers in Minnesota. And like Tim, they need to rethink their candidacy,” Emmer stated.

Walz, who served as former Vice President Kamala Harris’ working mate in 2024, introduced Monday he was withdrawing from his quest for a 3rd time period as governor in gentle of the fraud scandal.

“As I mirrored on this second with my household and my workforce over the vacations, I got here to the conclusion that I can’t give my all to a political marketing campaign,” Walz wrote in an announcement. “Each minute I spend defending my very own political pursuits can be a minute I can’t spend defending the folks of Minnesota towards the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our disagreements.”

MORE THAN 1,000 ARRESTED IN ‘MASSIVE’ OPERATION IN MINNESOTA, INCLUDING KILLERS, RAPISTS, PEDOPHILIES

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks to reporters after asserting he wouldn’t search re-election on January 5, 2026, on the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Tim Evans/Reuters)

“So I’ve determined to drop out of this race and let others fear concerning the election whereas I concentrate on the work forward of me for the 12 months forward,” the governor added.

Flanagan needs to interchange retiring Democratic Senator Tina Smith, who’s retiring from the Senate. She has been endorsed by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., amongst others.

Though she is taken into account a frontrunner, Flanagan’s response to the scandal has drawn criticism. She was just lately seen on a Somali TV station carrying a hijab at a mall to indicate her help for Minnesota’s Somali neighborhood because the federal authorities cracks down on the fraud scheme.

This comes as greater than 90 folks, most from Minnesota’s giant Somali neighborhood, have been charged since 2022 in what’s being described because the nation’s largest scheme of the COVID period. How a lot cash was stolen by alleged cash laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing packages, day care facilities and Medicaid companies continues to be being pieced collectively. However the U.S. lawyer in Minnesota stated the scale of the fraud might exceed $1 billion and attain as a lot as $9 billion.

In response to the criticism, Lexi Byler, a spokesperson for Flanagan’s marketing campaign, advised Fox Information Digital that “the lieutenant governor has made it clear that the quantity of fraud that’s acceptable is zero and that anybody who steals taxpayer cash ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the regulation – and that’s precisely what is occurring in Minnesota, the place 98 folks have been charged and 62 convicted to this point.”

TRUMP FLIPS DEMOCRATS ‘NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW’ MANTRA AFTER WALZ DROPS RE-ELECTION BID

Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor and Senate candidate, appeared in a hijab on Somali tv because the state handled a serious fraud scandal linked to a Somali-run nonprofit. (Somali TV Minnesota)

Byler added that “what’s laborious to take severely is that Republicans are speaking about accountability when Donald Trump has pardoned 27 company fraudsters and fired the inspectors normal whose job it’s to police fraud,” including that “Republicans are going to must reply for that.”

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On her marketing campaign web site, Flanagan touts her report as lieutenant governor, together with increasing Minnesota’s paid household and medical go away program and investments in training, well being care and housing.

The Minnesota primaries are on August 11.

Fox Information Digital additionally reached out to Walz and Craig for remark however didn’t instantly obtain a response.

Paul Steinhauser and Andrew Mark Miller of Fox Information Digital contributed to this report.