Peggy Flanagan

REGIONAL — Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan earned a major endorsement in her bid for the U.S. Senate this week with the announcement that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has given her effort his blessing.
“Peggy’s got the guts to stand up for working people against the billionaires and the corporate interests,” stated Sanders. “Peggy knows what it is to struggle. She was raised by a hard-working single mother who needed SNAP to help put food on the table and Medicaid for health care. And she’s dedicated her career to fighting for working families.”
That’s a point that Flanagan made during her visit to the North Country this past Friday, when she met with voters in Aurora, Mt. Iron, and Cook.
During her brief evening visit to the home of Sharon Beatty and David Stanton, who live near Cook, Flanagan stated her support for a $17 minimum wage, a single-payer Medicare for All health care system, and for the overturning of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates to corporate and billionaire funding of federal campaigns. She also voiced her support for higher taxes on the highest earners as a way to reduce income inequality in the U.S.
In commenting on her endorsement from Sanders, Flanagan lauded the 84-year-old senator.
“Like me, he’s sick and tired of people being forced to settle for survival,” said Flanagan. “Folks deserve to afford the lives they want to live. We must take on the big fights that will actually make life more affordable, not just the fights we think we can win. I’m proud to have earned the endorsement of someone equally undaunted and can’t wait to get to work with Senator Sanders in Washington.”
Sanders is one of the more influential progressives in the country and has spent his career fighting for an economy that works for working people. Sanders joins progressive champions U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass), former U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn), and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in endorsing Flanagan for Senate. 
Flanagan was the first DFL candidate to announce a Senate bid, but Second District Rep. Angie Craig recently announced her own bid to retain the senate seat currently held by Tina Smith.