OPINION:
Fraud in Minnesota is a major issue in the state’s 2026 campaigns. The problem is so severe that it heavily shadowed Gov. Tim Walz’s decision not to seek reelection.
Mr. Walz’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is running for the open U.S. Senate seat. Her Republican opponent, Michele Tafoya, is a former “Sunday Night Football” sideline reporter and electoral newcomer.
For a political argument to work, it must be based on something the voters find to be fundamentally true. If Ms. Tafoya wins the Senate race, she should thank Nick Shirley, an independent digital journalist and political content creator whose viral investigative videos in Minnesota highlighted widespread fraud issues and pushed the story into broader mainstream media coverage.
The fact that it pushed Mr. Walz out of his reelection campaign is still remarkable to me. He is now a drag on the ticket in his home state. It shows the power of exposing the truth.
Democrats across the country are hoping to connect their opponents to President Trump. In Minnesota, however, the bigger drag is Ms. Flanagan’s connection to Mr. Walz. The lieutenant governor has done little to distance herself from the massive fraud.
In many cases, what she has done has made it worse.
In 2024, Ms. Flanagan praised Mr. Walz from the podium during her speech at the Democratic National Convention. Now, she says, “more should’ve been done sooner,” but she throws the governor under the bus by saying that he took the lead — even though she was in meetings on the matter.
The voters know better, and they are blaming Mr. Walz and Ms. Flanagan, as well as anyone else connected to the embarrassing fraud in Minnesota.
A friend of mine who has been active in Minnesota politics for years says of the elections, “It’s definitely competitive.” He notes that Republicans overall are doing about 5 percentage points better than the national average because of the fraud.
Fraud, incompetence and corruption — that is what voters think of when they hear the names of Mr. Walz, Ms. Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison and anyone else associated with this mess. This is the issue in the races for U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general and even state legislative seats.
Without a doubt, it is an albatross around the neck of those associated with this debacle in the Gopher State.
Most voters there know the story of Feeding Our Future. The people in charge of this nonprofit fed their own greed by claiming to be working with schools, restaurants and catering firms to help feed students in Minnesota.
More than 70 people have been indicted in this scandal, with nearly 70 convictions. Approximately $250 million was taken from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The founder of Feeding Our Future was sentenced to 500 months in prison.
Over the years, I have seen campaigns try to manufacture attacks against their opponents. These efforts rarely work. Campaigns based on real concerns, however, win elections.
In 2021, then-Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin was wise to follow the lead of parents upset with out-of-touch school boards in Northern Virginia. He ran ads after his arrogant opponent said during a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
It was the key to victory in a very close election in a state that had voted Democratic in every presidential race since 2008.
Fraud is such a potent issue that Ms. Flanagan’s primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, warned that it would be used against Ms. Flanagan because of the lieutenant governor’s position.
Ms. Craig said, “The lieutenant governor, even as we sit here today, continues to take absolutely no accountability for any of the fraud issues, and she continues to blame the governor.”
This is not campaign spin. The Star Tribune/KARE 11/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Minnesota Poll in June showed that 81% expressed concern about fraud in the state’s social services programs.
More respondents said they trusted Republicans to manage the problem than said they trusted Democrats.
On top of all of that, Ms. Flanagan is a democratic socialist. She defeated a moderate in the primary. Unlike others across the country, her victory speech doubled down on the extreme. She is a radical, which also raises concerns for swing voters.
In other parts of the country, Democrats hope to win by linking their opponents to President Trump, whose numbers are low in Minnesota. Yet that is hard to do in this Senate race, as Ms. Tafoya does not hold office, is new to politics and was a popular sports broadcaster.
These give her a Teflon coating against her opponents’ attacks.
Fraud, on the other hand, sticks to Peggy Flanagan like Velcro. In the past, her strength would have been the name recognition she had as a statewide officeholder. In this case, it is a liability.
This will be a very competitive race, and it might very well determine control of the U.S. Senate.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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