![]() Peggy Flanagan, left, speak with reporters on May 2 at the Capitol following a news conference. FLYING THE WHITE EARTH FLAG Minnesota Gov. ![]() Several Republicans who have worked with Flanagan on issues declined to speak on the record for this story, citing the charged atmosphere of the election season.Īs for Jensen and Birk, their central campaign messages of improving public safety and the economy often target Flanagan and Walz as a unit for their response to the riots following George Floyd’s murder, spikes in violent crime and for what many Republicans viewed as a heavy-handed response to the coronavirus pandemic.Īs for her identity as an American Indian, Flanagan - the first tribal member elected to statewide office in Minnesota and at one point the highest serving elected Indigenous person in America - has leaned into it from day one. More than a legislator or lieutenant governor, they see her as an activist who views everything through the lens of race. That sort of language, as well as her focus on racial justice and equity, have led some Republicans to keep Flanagan at arm’s length. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future. ![]() “It’s hard to be a Native woman in a system that was not created by us or for us, and in many ways was created to eliminate us,” she said.ĭonald Trump transformed the Supreme Court. When Flanagan speaks about her American Indian identity, she’s direct. In 2015, she was elected to the Minnesota House, where she was a founding member of the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus. In 2013, she was hired as executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund, which often lobbies the Legislature to fund programs that help poor kids. That’s where she first met Walz, who at the time was less experienced in politics and considered Flanagan a mentor. BACKGROUND IN ADVOCACYįlanagan served on the Minneapolis school board from 2005 to 2009 and worked at Wellstone Action - now called Re:Power - training progressives to organize. “I was really intentional in building a career that allowed me to advocate,” she said, referring to a course steeped in left-wing activism. ![]() With some influence from her father, American Indian rights activist Marvin Manypenny, Flanagan set out to change what she saw as a system of public aid that needed improving. “There’s a lot of people around the Capitol who talk about ‘those people.’ I am one of ‘those people,’ ” she said in a recent interview with the Pioneer Press. Scott Jensen and his pick for lieutenant governor, former NFL star Matt Birk, in November’s general election.įlanagan is married to former Minnesota Public Radio host Tom Weber, who now is assistant director of marketing at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and has a 9-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.Īs a welfare recipient and member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan says she understands the experience of feeling marginalized. Now, she’s seeking a second term along with Walz, who will face the Republican ticket of former state Sen. Instead, according to Flanagan and those who’ve worked with her, the 43-year-old former state lawmaker is more of an insider advocate - critics say activist - for issues she’s spent most of her career supporting: public aid to poor parents and children, especially racial and ethnic minorities. Tim Walz in 2018, can’t be described as a mere backup. On paper, the Minnesota lieutenant governor is basically a backup.Īside from chairing a few boards and commissions as required by law, the lieutenant governor’s only duty under the state Constitution is to take over if the governor can’t do the job.īut that’s changed over the years, and Peggy Flanagan, who was elected with Gov.
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