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2026 Minnesota Senate Election

Likely D
Open (Smith retiring)

About this race

The current officeholder is retiring, so the seat will have a new winner. It’s widely expected to stay in Democratic hands. Michele Tafoya, a Republican, shows a record of donations linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, but the exact amount is still being confirmed.

Key issues in Minnesota

Major issues facing Minnesota, based on 2025–2026 reporting. Compare them with what each candidate says they focus on below.

Candidates & funding

Peggy Flanagan Democrat Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record
2026 fundraising (FEC)$6,517,348 raised · $5,458,744 spent · $1,058,604 cash on hand through Jul 22, 2026
Focus: Fight for families, protect public programs and abortion rights, take on billionaires.

Michele Tafoya Republican Nominee

AIPAC-linkedamount under verification
FundVoter lists an AIPAC-linked FEC record for this candidate; the dollar amount is still under verification.
2026 fundraising (FEC)$5,337,942 raised · $3,965,545 spent · $1,372,728 cash on hand through Jul 22, 2026
Focus: Fight fraud in Minnesota, restore law and order, cut taxes, strengthen elections.

Where the money comes from

FEC campaign finance data through Jul 22, 2026. Campaign dollars, by source.

Peggy Flanagan DMichele Tafoya R
Raised$6.5M$5.3M
Individuals$6.3M96%$4.7M88%
PACs & parties$178K3%$229K4%
Self-funded$7K0%$8K0%
Other$72K1%$378K7%
AIPAC-linked*——
Outside spending†——

* AIPAC-linked money is already counted in the rows above — it flags the pro-Israel share, not extra money.

† Independent spending on ads for or against a candidate. It never goes to their campaign.

“Individuals” covers both small-dollar (under $200) and large donors.

Who are the biggest donors?

Every donor ranked by how much they gave, from the candidate’s own FEC filings — individuals, PACs, and party committees all in one list. Expand a candidate to see theirs, then tap any name to learn more about the donor.

Why are so many gifts exactly $10,000? That’s the legal maximum a PAC can give one candidate for the whole cycle — $5,000 for the primary plus $5,000 for the general — so many PACs give the max. Individuals can give up to $3,500 per election.

Peggy Flanagan 4456 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$6.5M
Campaign spent$5.5M
Cash on hand$1.1M
FEC 2026 through 07/22/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals96%
PACs / committees3%
Self-funding0%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • Individual$35K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$13K
  • PAC$11K
  • Individual$11K
  • Individual$10K
  • Individual$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Individual$9K
  • Organization$8K
  • Individual$8K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Organization$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Organization$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K

Showing the 50 biggest of 4456 donors. The other 4406 gave $3M combined.

Plus $3.1M from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Peggy Flanagan’s full FEC filings →

Michele Tafoya 3500 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$5.3M
Campaign spent$4.0M
Cash on hand$1.4M
FEC 2026 through 07/22/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals88%
PACs / committees4%
Self-funding0%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • Party committee$62K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$14K
  • Individual$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Corporate PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • Individual$9K
  • Individual$8K
  • Individual$8K
  • Individual$8K
  • Self-funded$8K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K

Showing the 50 biggest of 3500 donors. The other 3450 gave $2M combined.

Plus $2.4M from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Michele Tafoya’s full FEC filings →

These figures come from the candidate’s own itemized FEC reports (2026 cycle, through the coverage date above), with amendments applied and refunds netted. Joint fundraising transfers are left out of the ranking: they’re pass-throughs, and the individual donations behind them are listed above. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and other non-donation receipts are excluded. Donor names are as reported — the same person can appear twice if their name was recorded differently. Independent spending on ads is never included here — see the Outside spending column.

More Minnesota races

← Michigan District 13Minnesota District 1 →
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