Peggy Flanagan is poised to make history in Tim Walz's wake

It's been just a few weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate to take on Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) for the White House in November. Almost immediately after declaring the Democratic ticket, the national spotlight quickly swung toward the North Star state as interested parties across the political spectrum delved into the professional and personal record of the newly anointed candidate. But while the avuncular Walz may have captured electoral lightning in a bottle with his exhortations against alleged GOP "weirdness," it's Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota's lieutenant governor, who is poised to make potential history. 

From her beginnings as a community organizer and member of the Minneapolis Board of Education to her viral fame for singing Prince's "Purple Rain" on the Minnesota House floor where she served for several years, Flanagan has long been a fixture of Minnesota politics. A member of the White Earth band of Ojibwe, Flanagan became just the second Native woman to land a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, and is currently the "highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office" in the nation, according to her state biography.  

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With Walz potentially swapping the governor's mansion in St. Paul for the Naval Observatory in D.C., Flanagan could become the nation's first Indigenous woman governor should the Democrats win in November. 

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'Open to doing things in better ways'

As a state lawmaker, Flanagan was known for championing "legislation that benefited children, the poor, and people of color," and helping to "launch the state's first POCI (People of Color and Indigenous) Caucus," The Nation said. After joining the Walz administration as his lieutenant governor in 2018, Flanagan "established the country's first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office," and increased "cash, food and child care assistance to low-income families," Politico said. Along with Walz, she also "pushed for the highest child tax credit in the country, which Walz signed into law," The New Republic said. 

As Minnesota continues to incorporate "tribal consultation into numerous aspects of the state government" many of the state's tribal leaders "point to Flanagan as the driving force behind these changes, as well as a significant rise in respect for tribal sovereignty and autonomy in state policy," The Associated Press said. She has also used her time as lieutenant governor to include Native history and culture in state classrooms.

“When you don’t see yourself reflected in your teachers or curriculum, there is an impact," Flanagan said at Sahan Journal. "To be really candid, it made me feel like I was invisible in my own classroom."

Flanagan "won't be afraid to be open to doing things in better ways that are more reflective of our values and of the reality of what a Minnesotan looks like," said Minnesota State Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (D) to the Journal. 

'Tell the truth, even if it makes people uncomfortable'

Flanagan has also courted controversy, particularly around issues related to reproductive health and gender-affirming care. Last year she was singled out by the Republican National Committee for insisting parents trust children when they "tell us who they are."

She also "notably tweeted her NCAA March Madness bracket: choosing teams based on the level of abortion restrictions in their home states," Fox News said. "By this measurement, it's only fair that Minnesota didn't make the tournament because they'd have been a favorite for the title," she said in her post.

Flanagan has cited her father, White Earth activist Marvin Manypenny, as a major inspiration for her work, particularly around Indigenous issues, no matter the pushback. "He was a troublemaker and rabble-rouser, and an expert in our tribal constitution," Flanagan said to the AP. "He taught me to take up space at the table and to tell the truth, even if it makes people uncomfortable."

She has also, at least publicly, downplayed any potentially historic career changes in her future. Introduced at an event last month as "someone who might become the first female governor of the state of Minnesota," MinnPost said, Flanagan replied "One. Thing. At a time."