Lesbian U.S. Rep. Angie Craig Launches U.S. Senate Bid
The lesbian congresswoman, a moderate Democrat, has entered the fray to succeed Minnesota's retiring U.S. Sen. Tina Smith.
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) has launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.
The lesbian congresswoman entered the Senate race after holding town hall meetings last week in all four of Minnesota’s congressional districts currently held by Minnesota Republicans.
In her launch video, which shows Craig traveling to different regions of the state listening to voters’ concerns, Craig vows to “break through the chaos” emanating from Washington and fight back against “a president trampling our rights and freedoms as he profits for personal gain, and a cowardly Republican Party rolling over and letting it all happen.”
She also takes a dig at Trump advisor Elon Musk, known best for his launching of the Department of Government Efficiency, whom she describes as an “out-of-control, unelected billionaire trying to take over our government and burn it to the ground.”
Smith announced in February that she would not seek re-election, opening up another swing-state Senate contest in 2026.
Soon afterward, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan announced a bid for the seat, raising over $450,000 in the first quarter and compiling a list of endorsements from prominent Democrats in the state, including former U.S. Sen. Al Franken and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Former Minnesota State Sen. Melisa López Franzen also jumped into the Democratic primary race, raising more than $260,000 in the first quarter and racking up endorsements from several current and former legislators and local elected officials.
It’s unclear how Craig — a former medical device company executive and newspaper reporter who was elected to represent a swing seat in 2018 — would perform in a three-way race. A recent poll from Public Policy Polling reportedly found Craig trailing Flanagan in a two-way race, 55%-22%.
Craig’s first-quarter fundraising — $1.2 million in the first quarter, which can be transferred from her House campaign to her Senate campaign war chest — and her potential to seize the “moderate” mantle from López Franzen and Flanagan, who are viewed as much more left-leaning, could change the race’s dynamic.
The primary may serve as a test of how far Democrats can go in opposing the Trump administration in a midterm election while also walking a tightrope on their policy stances, especially on social issues, to avoid alienating the types of conservative Democrats and independents who backed Trump for the presidency.
Craig has shown an ability to outperform expectations, winning her district by 13.5 percentage points, while Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris only won it by less than six.
If she wins the Democratic nomination, Craig could face any number of Republican opponents, including Royce White, a former NBA player who lost the race for Minnesota’s other Senate seat by 16 points to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar last year, and Adam Schwarze, a Marine Corps and Iraqi war veteran.
Craig is the second LGBTQ person to recently announce a bid for the Senate, following the entry of Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas into the race for the seat currently held by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
She is also the third House member elected in 2018, the last Trump midterm year — as well as the third member overall — to enter a race for an open U.S. Senate seat in a swing state, following Pappas and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who is running in a primary to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
Equality PAC, the political action committee of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus, threw its support behind Craig, a member of the caucus and one of only 13 LGBTQ people serving in either chamber of Congress.
“Minnesotans deserve a tireless, effective leader who puts people first — and that’s exactly who Angie is,” Equality PAC Co-Chairs Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “Angie Craig is a proven fighter, and we are confident she will bring that same grit and commitment to the U.S. Senate on behalf of all Minnesotans.”
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