Tafoya Accuses Flanagan of Dodging Responsibility for Minnesota Fraud Scandals

Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya pressed Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan on her administration's accountability for significant fraud scandals during a debate Friday. Flanagan, when asked about her ownership of fraud that occurred during the current administration, deferred responsibility to Gov. Tim Walz, stating the governor "was the one who had oversight here."

Flanagan highlighted her leadership in areas like school meals, one of the programs targeted by scammers. These schemes, originating from the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, resulted in an estimated $250 million in fraudulent claims of COVID-era funds. In December 2025, then-U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson indicated that as much as $9 billion in taxpayer funds might have been lost to fraud in Minnesota since 2018, the year Walz was first elected.

Tafoya criticized Flanagan's response, stating, "They didn’t get lunch from Feeding Your Future." She pledged to be "an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any corrupt, career politician" if elected to the Senate. The former NFL sideline reporter emphasized that "only one of us let $9 billion walk out the door to fraud."

Tafoya further accused Flanagan, as "second in charge" in the state, of avoiding accountability. "She was second in charge in this state, and she’s just going to point her finger at Gov. Tim Walz, when she demanded it be the Walz-Flanagan administration, when she demanded to be in the room where everything happened," Tafoya stated. "But suddenly she has nothing to with this? My goodness sell it to someone else."

Flanagan expressed her own anger regarding the misuse of taxpayer funds, agreeing with the governor that "more should have been done and more should have been done sooner."

The debate also touched on the upcoming election, with Flanagan currently leading Tafoya by 2.6 percentage points in the race, according to the RealClearPolitics polling aggregator. Tafoya, a former sideline reporter for NBC Sports, announced her Senate campaign in January. Flanagan has served as lieutenant governor since January 2019.