Who is Peggy Flanagan? A Harris-Walz win could shake up Minnesota politics

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential election, her victory will trigger critical changes in her running mate’s home state of Minnesota.

Harris picked Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her vice presidential nominee on Tuesday. If she clinches the White House in November, Walz will vacate his position as Minnesota’s gubernatorial leader. 

Under the state’s constitution, Democratic Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would step into Walz’s shoes, becoming the nation’s first Native American female governor. In turn, Democratic Minnesota state Senate President Bobby Joe Champion would become the first black lieutenant governor in Minnesota history.

Should Champion ascend to the No. 2 spot in Minnesota, he would leave the state Senate in a 33-33 tie. However, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party state senator isn’t concerned about the potential deadlock.

“I also come from a strong DFL district so I’m certain that whatever happens, we will still be in control,” Champion told the Minn Post last month. Champion was first elected to the Minnesota state Senate in 2012 after serving two terms in the state House. 

Flanagan and Walz were elected as lieutenant governor and governor in 2018, securing reelection four years later. 

Flanagan has touted her work to “center the voices of young women” and invest “in equity in bonding to support community projects led by and for people of color.” Last year, Walz’s No. 2. also celebrated the signing of three of the state’s landmark bills into law. 

“Everyone deserves to feel safe to be who they are, love who they love, and live without fear of violence and discrimination,” Flanagan said as she praised the passage of bills protecting people seeking or providing abortions in Minnesota, banning the practice of conversion therapy, and protecting people seeking or providing gender-related healthcare in Minnesota.

“I am proud to live and raise a family in Minnesota knowing that young people, especially our LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit youth, can be their full, authentic selves and exercise agency over their bodies and lives. In this state, we will continue to fight for love over hate every single day,” she continued. 

Flanagan is the country’s highest-ranking Native American woman at the executive level, as well as the first to lead the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association.