Minnesota Wisconsin primaries: Hong, Flanagan, Craig run in key races

Progressives and moderates will face off again in Tuesday’s Democratic primary elections in Wisconsin and Minnesota as the party decides whether to lurch further to the left or chart toward the middle after crushing losses to Republicans in 2024.

Populist progressives in recent months have capitalized on economic anger to defeat establishment Democratic candidates across the country, setting off a potentially seismic political shift within the party. Last week in Michigan, progressive former health official Abdul El-Sayed defeated the more moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in a primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. — the latest stunning upset for longtime party power brokers who backed Stevens.

The progressive swell will be tested again on Tuesday as candidates in the mold of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., vie for gubernatorial and Senate nominations in Wisconsin and Minnesota against establishment-backed moderates.

In Wisconsin, Francesca Hong is running to be the state’s next governor and is the clear polling favorite heading into Election Day. Hong, who leads the field by double digits in recent polls, is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America’s Milwaukee chapter and is a staunch progressive. Some prominent Democrats such as Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have endorsed Hong.

Some of Hong’s past comments, including calling for the cancellation of Thanksgiving and abolishing the police, have garnered scrutiny in recent days. Hong has since distanced herself from both statements.

She is facing a field that includes the more moderate Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is endorsed by retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Crowley had previously dropped out of the race, but reentered and scored Evers’ endorsements as some Democrats fear Hong is too progressive to win the general election in the purple state.

Hong’s platform includes offering universal childcare, creating publicly-owned grocery stores, establishing a public option healthcare plan and launching a public bank. She has also called for raising taxes on the wealthy in Wisconsin to pay for more services.

The winner of the Democratic contest will likely face Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., in the general election. Tiffany, who has served in the House since 2020, represents northern Wisconsin. He is a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Tiffany is proposing freezing property taxes, rolling back other tax increases and increasing energy production.

Republicans have seized on the surge of progressives in the Democratic Party, branding the party’s left flank as “communists.” None of the high-profile Democrats in key primaries this year support communist policies.

Flanagan, who is the No. 2 official in the state behind retiring Gov. Tim Walz, is running a progressive campaign and has been endorsed by Smith and top lawmakers on the left such as Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. She has also nabbed the endorsement of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party — the official state Democratic party — but unlike Hong, is not backed by the Twin Cities DSA chapter.

She’s pushing for a universal healthcare plan known as Medicare for all, wants to dismantle Immigration and Customs Enforcement and seeks to halt offensive weapons sales to Israel.

Support for Israel has become a flashpoint for Democrats in primary contests as many on the left recoil from the Jewish state’s conduct during the war in Gaza that was launched in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Flanagan has called Israel’s actions a “genocide.”

Flanagan, however, has caught some flak for her proximity to Walz and the cascading social services fraud scandal that prompted the 2024 vice presidential candidate to abandon his reelection bid. Flanagan has expressed regret that the administration did not act faster, but has defended the administration’s response and subsequent crackdown on fraud.

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies earlier this year seized on the fraud claims, some of which are years old, to launch an immigration crackdown and pause some Medicaid funding in Minnesota.

Craig, in a debate with Flanagan, said “Republicans are going to have a field day with you” over her connection to the fraud scandal.

Craig, meanwhile, is a moderate who flipped a Republican-held seat in 2018. She leapfrogged to the top minority slot of the House Agriculture Committee in this Congress, defeating several more senior candidates to secure the spot.

She argues that her ability to win a purple district makes her the best candidate against a Republican in what’s expected to be a tight election. Craig has scored endorsements from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

While Craig does not support Medicare for all, she has introduced a bill to create a government-run healthcare plan known as a public option or Medicare for all who want it. Craig also supports the traditional U.S.-Israel relationship, voting against an amendment last month that sought to strip U.S. aid to Israel while expressing her dissatisfaction with current Israeli leadership.

Craig has been criticized, however, for being the only Minnesota Democrat to vote for the Laken Riley Act. That bill required ICE to detain undocumented immigrants who are arrested or face charges or who have been convicted of burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury.

Immigration enforcement is a key issue in Minnesota after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in the state during the immigration crackdown earlier this year.

Craig has since backtracked on her support of that bill, saying she regrets it in an op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune and calling it “the wrong decision” in a debate with Flanagan last month.

Flanagan has pounced on Craig for the vote.

“Voting three days into the second Trump administration for Donald Trump’s immigration bill that allowed him to terrorize our communities, the loss of life, the economic impact, the trauma, it’s horrific,” Flanagan said of Craig’s vote during the debate.

Tuesday’s Democratic winner is expected to face Republican Michelle Tafoya in the general election. Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster, is leading by a wide margin in public polls.

Minnesota will also host a governor’s primary on Tuesday, which will likely determine who Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will face in the general election. The Republican field includes MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Minnesota House member Lisa Demuth.