In Senate debate, Tafoya and Flanagan can’t shake ties to unpopular men

Minnesota’s U.S. Senate candidates share a burden: each is tied to an unpopular man.

That burden was on display Friday in the only scheduled debate, hosted by MPR News, between Republican Michele Tafoya and Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

Tafoya would not say if she would share a stage with President Donald Trump if he came to campaign in Minnesota, even after he endorsed her earlier this week.

Flanagan wouldn’t say whether she would campaign with Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his bid for a third term earlier this year amid a widening crisis of fraud in social service programs that has dogged Flanagan’s campaign.

Flanagan and Tafoya each tried to tie the other to an unpopular politician while sparring over the war in Iran, immigration and fraud.

Republicans see Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter and conservative podcaster, as their best chance in years to end the party’s two-decade losing streak in statewide races. Tafoya is well known, good on television and a strong fundraiser. She has cut toward the middle on controversial issues like abortion — proudly calling herself a “pro-choice Republican” — and vowed to break from Trump when she disagrees with him.

Despite being far outspent, Flanagan handily won a bruising Democratic primary running as an uncompromising progressive: Medicare for All, universal childcare, $17-an-hour federal minimum wage and more. While Flanagan has said she isn’t responsible for waste and fraud, she has claimed credit for the successes of the Walz administration such as universal free school meals and a new paid family leave program.

Foreign policy

Flanagan said if elected she would not vote for any more funding for the war in Iran or for offensive weapons to Israel. She blasted Tafoya for her shifting stance on the war in Iran and accused her of standing by it only until it became a political liability.

Tafoya previously said that Americans complaining of higher prices caused by the war should “be patriots” about it and make fewer trips to Starbucks. She said during Friday’s debate that she thinks “there are some goals that have been achieved” but that she wants to see the war end quickly and “strategically.”

Tafoya criticized Flanagan for labeling the war in Gaza a “genocide.”

“I stand with Israel,” Tafoya said. “Calling it a genocide is an absolute misrepresentation.”

Flanagan and Tafoya also differ sharply on their assessment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who faces a pending impeachment resolution in the U.S. House after barely being confirmed by the Senate. He oversaw America’s launch of the war in Iran with Israel and has tried to reshape the ethos of the department, stating crudely, “No fatties. No trannies. No beardos. No weirdoes. No wimps. No radicals — JUST WARRIORS.”

Tafoya wouldn’t give him a grade, saying it’s incomplete. She did say she was pleased Trump canceled plans to livestream an execution by firing squad, which is scheduled for later this year.

Flanagan gave Hegseth an “F.”

“He should be impeached,” Flanagan said. “I have seen enough.”

Operation Metro Surge

Tafoya called the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January at the hands of federal immigration agents “devastating.” She said former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mishandled Trump’s incursion of some 3,000 federal agents to the state last winter, and that she was appropriately fired.

“America should be a nation of immigration and also a nation of law and order,” Tafoya said, noting she is the granddaughter of immigrants and adopted her daughter from Colombia.

Flanagan again bashed Tafoya for her shifting stance. She pointed out that Tafoya appeared to blame Good for her death by interfering with law enforcement and just last year suggested the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement be rebranded as National Immigration and Customs Enforcement — or NICE.

“Michele Tafoya again is trying to reinvent who she is just to get across the finish line,” Flanagan said. “The fact that she used roll-up footage in her campaign video from Operation Metro Surge, I think, tells you how she really feels.”

While Flanagan said she supports strong borders even as she calls to “tear ICE apart,” Tafoya accused her of selective compassion.

“I don’t hear Peggy ever crying about Sheridan Gorman or any of the other victims of these illegal aliens who have come in during Joe Biden’s reign,” Tafoya said, citing the case of an 18-year-old college student killed in Chicago.

Fraud and violent crime

Tafoya hammered home a point she’s been repeating throughout the campaign: Flanagan did nothing to prevent fraudsters from looting Minnesota’s social service programs and should be fired — not promoted to Senate.

She also criticized Flanagan for not being willing to say “Somali gang violence” after a string of suburban shootings (with the caveat that Tafoya said she doesn’t want to scapegoat an entire community either). Tafoya noted she has the endorsement of police groups, and rolled out a five-point public safety plan with the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association earlier this week.

Flanagan repeated that she opposes fraud and supported efforts to increase oversight and penalties. She pivoted to corruption in Washington under Trump — how he fired inspectors general responsible for cracking down on fraud, pardoned convicted fraudsters who support him, handed out government contracts to allies and enriched himself and his family.

“Michele Tafoya has nothing to say about that,” Flanagan said.

Tafoya said: “I am going to Washington to be an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any corrupt career politician … Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot. You and I are on the ballot.”

Social Security and Medicare

Flanagan said she would raise the income cap on Social Security contributions to shore up the program that is at risk of being depleted in six years.

“Social Security is one of the most successful programs our country has ever seen,” Flanagan said. “Our seniors who have paid into it, they’ve earned those benefits.”

Tafoya would not say if she would support raising taxes or increasing the retirement age in order to ensure solvency for Social Security.

“We’re not going to solve it in a 60-minute debate,” Tafoya said.

Flanagan said she would also fight to restore cuts to Medicare and Medicaid passed by Trump and Republicans in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Tafoya criticized the cost of health care, prescription drugs and insurance while calling Flanagan’s support for Medicare for All, “a pipedream.”