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Ongoing story / United States Senate

The 2026 Minnesota Senate race: Peggy Flanagan vs. Michele Tafoya

Overview · reviewed November 5, 2026

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat, defeated Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, in Minnesota's 2026 Senate race for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, keeping it in Democratic hands.[1][2][3] A poll at the end of September had shown them in a statistical tie, and the Associated Press called the race just after midnight.[4][1]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

A poll at the end of September had shown them in a statistical tie, and the Associated Press called the race just after midnight.[4][1]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2025-04-28 (UTC): 9%, 19 of 204 tracked outlets (3 left, 4 center, 12 right)Week of 2025-05-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-19 (UTC): 12%, 21 of 170 tracked outlets (1 left, 6 center, 14 right)Week of 2026-01-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-06 (UTC): 2%, 10 of 560 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-07-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-03 (UTC): 1%, 4 of 537 tracked outlets (1 left, 1 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-08-10 (UTC): 8%, 42 of 545 tracked outlets (11 left, 10 center, 21 right)Week of 2026-08-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-28 (UTC): 1%, 3 of 476 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-10-05 (UTC): 2%, 10 of 479 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): 3%, 12 of 476 tracked outlets (1 left, 1 center, 10 right)Week of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-02 (UTC): 6%, 26 of 471 tracked outlets (4 left, 6 center, 16 right)Week of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 1 more outlet off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (9 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Nov 2, 2026461626 of 4716%
Oct 12, 2026111012 of 4763%
Oct 5, 202601910 of 4792%
Sep 28, 20260123 of 4761%
Aug 10, 202611102142 of 5458%
Aug 3, 20261124 of 5371%
Jul 6, 202601910 of 5602%
Jan 19, 2026161421 of 17012%
Apr 28, 2025341219 of 2049%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Nov 3, 2026 · first reported · Headline from CBS News

    Peggy Flanagan wins Minnesota 2026 Senate election, CBS News projects

Background

Rep. Angie Craig launched her campaign in April 2025 for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, joining a Democratic field that included the state's lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan.[2] Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, entered the race as a Republican in January 2026.[5] In July, Flanagan called on Craig to answer for an "unprecedented" amount of outside spending, and Craig called her a "hypocrite."[6] Flanagan won the August primary, and Tafoya won the Republican nomination with 52.1% of the vote.[3] An InsiderAdvantage poll at the end of September had Flanagan at 46% and Tafoya at 45%, within the margin of error.[4]

Supporting stories (6)
  1. Flanagan, Tafoya vie for Minnesota's US Senate seat
  2. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig launches bid for U.S. Senate
  3. Peggy Flanagan wins Senate primary in Minnesota, notching another victory for progressive Democrats
  4. Peggy Flanagan up 1 point in Minnesota Senate poll over Michele Tafoya
  5. Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, to launch Minnesota Senate run
  6. Flanagan, Craig clash over outside spending in DFL US Senate primary

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 10 recorded updates

November 2026

  1. Flanagan, Tafoya vie for Minnesota's US Senate seatHeadline from The Bemidji Pioneer · 26 outlets

October 2026

  1. Flanagan, Tafoya face off in first U.S. Senate debateHeadline from Park Rapids Enterprise · 12 outlets
  2. Endorsement: Independent-minded Michele Tafoya ready for US SenateHeadline from Alexandria Echo Press · 10 outlets

September 2026

  1. Peggy Flanagan up 1 point in Minnesota Senate poll over Michele TafoyaHeadline from The Hill · 3 outlets

August 2026

  1. Tafoya, Flanagan to face off for U.S. SenateHeadline from The Center Square · 2 outlets
  2. Peggy Flanagan wins Senate primary in Minnesota, notching another victory for progressive DemocratsHeadline from PBS NewsHour · 40 outlets
  3. U.S. Senate candidates debate Minnesota fraudHeadline from Just the News · 4 outlets

July 2026

  1. Flanagan, Craig clash over outside spending in DFL US Senate primaryHeadline from InForum · 10 outlets

January 2026

  1. Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, to launch Minnesota Senate runHeadline from NBC10 Philadelphia · 22 outlets

April 2025

  1. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig launches bid for U.S. SenateHeadline from The Bemidji Pioneer · 19 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →