Withholding Support from Lt. Gov. Flanagan

I write this as an immigrant rights advocate, a former undocumented person, and now an immigration attorney. I am not interested in purity politics. I understand compromise. I understand governing. I understand that elections often involve choosing between imperfect options.

But accountability still matters. And right now, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is asking Minnesota voters, especially progressive voters, to offer support without accountability.

I’m not willing to do that.

Selective Credit, Selective Silence

Lieutenant Governor Flanagan has been highly visible when it comes to celebrating the accomplishments of the Walz–Flanagan administration. She takes credit for the wins. She appears at announcements. She speaks proudly about progress Minnesota has made.

But when it comes to one of the most devastating decisions made by that same administration, the rollback of health care coverage for undocumented adults, she was conspicuously absent.

Last year, Governor Walz, Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy announced a state budget deal that eliminated state-funded health insurance for thousands of undocumented adults. A law that had been in effect for only one year was undone.

This was not abstract policy. It meant people losing access to doctors, medication, and preventative care overnight.

Lieutenant Governor Flanagan later stated she was not part of that deal. What she has never done is publicly address it. No statement. No dissent. No acknowledgment of the harm caused.

That silence did not feel accidental. It felt strategic, and smacks of what we all hate: campaign talking points.

You don’t get to celebrate the good while disclaiming responsibility for the ugly.

“We Had No Choice” Is Not Leadership

The explanation offered was familiar. Republicans demanded the repeal or threatened to shut down the government.

Let’s be clear about what that means. Progressive leadership chose to sacrifice undocumented adults’ health care to avoid a shutdown.

At the same time, the Walz–Flanagan administration regularly condemns anti-immigrant cruelty coming from the Trump administration and the Republican Party.

You cannot credibly denounce those policies while reproducing their outcomes at the state level.

Intent does not erase impact. And silence does not absolve responsibility.

Speaker Hortman herself described this vote as one of the worst she had taken. That acknowledgment mattered. The Lieutenant Governor offered none.

It Is Reasonable to Move On

I think many Minnesotans are simply tired.

Tired of decisions made behind closed doors.
Tired of harm followed by silence.
Tired of being told to accept messes as the cost of governing.

The Walz–Flanagan administration has been marked by serious failures in judgment, oversight, and responsiveness across multiple issues. People are fed up with how many matters were handled and how often communities were asked to absorb the damage without meaningful accountability.

Governor Walz has stepped away from another run. That makes this a natural inflection point.

Moving on from the Walz–Flanagan political era is not disloyal. It is healthy.

Minnesota has other good candidates. Capable candidates. Candidates who were not part of these decisions and who may be better positioned to restore trust.

Why Leadership Style Matters in the Senate

Supporters often point out that the Lieutenant Governor does not control outcomes. That is true.

But that is exactly why this question matters.

The U.S. Senate is also a place where no single member controls outcomes. Senators influence, negotiate, pressure, dissent, and shape the public record. They do not get to pass responsibility upward simply because they are not at the top of the ticket. Are we going to get the same argument, that in order to avoid bigger impacts, we must sacrifice immigrants, over and over?

Minnesota cannot afford a senator whose response to harm is that they were not in the room or in charge.

Leadership in both roles requires using influence when formal authority is limited. It requires speaking publicly when silence is safer. It requires taking responsibility even when the final decision rests elsewhere.

That is the standard voters should apply here.

What Accountability Would Actually Look Like

Some will ask what happens if Lieutenant Governor Flanagan acknowledges the harm. What then?

Acknowledgment alone is not enough. Accountability has to lead somewhere.

At a minimum, it would require a public explanation of her silence at the time, not as a campaign talking point but as a reckoning. It would require stating clearly whether she opposed the rollback and, if so, why she chose not to say so publicly.

More importantly, it would require a commitment to specific actions going forward.

That includes a clear pledge to champion the full restoration of health care access for undocumented adults, to refuse to treat immigrant communities as bargaining chips in future negotiations, and to use the Senate platform to oppose similar tradeoffs even when they are politically inconvenient.

It would also require a demonstrated willingness to break from party leadership when progressive values are at stake, rather than deferring to the dynamics of power.

Accountability is not about relitigating the past. It is about proving that harm will not be repeated.

How DFL Voters Should Engage Right Now

This is why I am urging DFL voters to withhold their support at this stage.

Do not rush to line up behind any one candidate. Let the process play out. Use every opportunity to ask questions and demand clarity.

Ask candidates how they will lead when they are not the final decision-maker. Ask how they will respond when party leadership makes choices that cause real harm. Ask what they will do differently.

Withholding support is not a rejection. It is a demand for better.

There is value in allowing the full field to compete and in letting the primary do its job. Momentum should not replace scrutiny.

Why I’m Withholding My Support

I am not calling for political exile. I am calling for engagement.

Until Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan directly addresses the rollback of health care for undocumented adults, including her silence, her responsibility, and whether she would make the same choice again, I am withholding my support.

I am encouraging others to participate fully, ask hard questions, and push for better leadership.

Minnesota’s progressive base deserves more than lesser-of-two-evils logic. Immigrant communities deserve more than praise when it is convenient and silence when harm is done.

Participation is power.
Accountability is leadership.