Minnesota’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is also running for Senate, is facing a call from one of her GOP opponents to drop out of the race amid Gov. Tim Walz’s decision to drop out of his re-election race as a massive fraud scandal continues to unfold in the state.
‘In the military, if your squad fails the mission, you certainly don’t get a promotion,’ Adam Schwarze, former U.S. Navy SEAL and Republican candidate for Minnesota Senate said in a press release this week.
‘Governor Walz made the correct decision not to run for re-election, and I commend him for it. Now it’s time for Peggy to make her own announcement. She has worked alongside the governor in raising taxes by $18 billion and has failed to stop the ongoing waste and fraud that are driving costs even higher. Minnesotans deserve new leadership that restores affordability, integrity, and accountability.’
Flanagan, who has served alongside Walz since 2019 as the fraud crisis unfolded in the state, has faced increasing criticism in recent days, Fox News Digital reported, for not doing enough to ensure that taxpayer funds were protected.
‘Both of these candidates sat idly by while billions were stolen from hardworking taxpayers in Minnesota,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, said this week about Flanagan and Dem. Rep. Angie Craig, who is also running for Senate.
‘And just like Tim, they ought to reconsider their candidacy.’
Flanagan’s close ties to Walz date back to 2006 when she advised the governor during his successful run for Congress, and she was the only person on his list to pick for lieutenant governor years later, MPR News reported.
‘Every major decision she has been there from the beginning and helps me see about them differently and think about them differently,’ Walz said in 2020. ‘You have a 55-year-old rural white guy who was in the Army and coached football, and you have a 39-year-old indigenous woman who lived in St. Louis Park. That brings a wealth of [ways] to approach these issues.’
Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan’s campaign for comment.
Though she is considered a frontrunner in the race, Flanagan’s response to the scandal has garnered criticism. She was recently seen on a Somali TV station wearing a hijab at a mall to signal her support for Minnesota’s Somali community and calling them part of the ‘fabric’ of Minnesota as the federal government cracks down on the fraud scheme.
This comes as more than 90 people, most from Minnesota’s large Somali community, have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion.
‘We need holistic reform and holistic leadership change in Minnesota,’ Schwarze said in a video posted on X. ‘So while Walz is stepping away I would postulate this to everybody, why is Flanagan silent on all these acts, why has Flanagan not said anything? Why should Flanagan be promoted to the U.S. Senate while Walz is resigning? Valid questions, right?’
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.