A major Democratic outside group is launching a $2 million advertising blitz against Rep. Angie Craig in Minnesota's intensifying Senate primary, zeroing in on her past support for immigration enforcement measures during the Trump administration.
The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association's opening attack comes months before the August primary vote, signaling how bitter the competition has become for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tina Smith. Craig, a moderate who flipped a Republican district in 2018, faces a fierce primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive who has emerged as the establishment favorite.
The DLGA's central criticism focuses on Craig's vote for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration detention bill that Trump signed early in his second term. The ad, narrated by Minnesota school board member Mary Granlund, centers on the detention of Liam Ramos, a five-year-old whose image in a blue bunny hat became a symbol of the administration's enforcement efforts.
"I was there. There were armed agents, masks on, guns," Granlund says in the spot. "He's not a criminal. He's five. I begged them to stop." The ad accuses Craig of voting to "give ICE the power to abduct and indefinitely detain parents and kids like Liam," and later voting to "thank them."
Craig acknowledged the misstep in a March opinion piece, writing that she regretted the vote. "It is true that the president is not using any laws to carry out these sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans, but it's also become clear that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision," she wrote.
Her reversal came after Operation Metro Surge, a targeted federal enforcement campaign that specifically rattled Minnesota. In response, Craig filed articles of impeachment against then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and introduced legislation to strip ICE's new funding from the GOP's tax and spending bill.
Yet DLGA executive director Kevin Holst dismissed her change of heart as calculation rather than conviction. "She had over a year to say that she was wrong for this," he said, calling it "an act of political expediency."
The ad also hammers Craig over a resolution she supported that included language thanking law enforcement, including ICE, for "protecting the homeland." That resolution was primarily aimed at condemning an antisemitic attack in Colorado, a detail Craig has repeatedly cited in her defense.
"You make difficult choices on these Republican gotcha bills every single day when you're serving," Craig told HuffPost. "And so I would ask, would the lieutenant governor have voted against a resolution to condemn antisemitism?"
Holst countered that the majority of House Democrats opposed the resolution. "You can stand against antisemitism eight days of the week without voting to thank ICE for their work across the country," he said.
Craig's campaign has fired back with its own attack on Flanagan, pointing to donations the DLGA received from CoreCivic, a private prison company that contracts with ICE, while Flanagan chaired the group. Holst dismissed the criticism as "very disingenuous," noting the donation came in November 2023 before Flanagan took over as chairwoman and that she requested the funds be returned. The DLGA is working to redirect the money to an immigrant rights organization, he said.
Immigration enforcement remains a defining issue in the Minnesota race even as federal ICE operations have declined from their peak intensity five months ago. Holst said the group plans additional ads featuring Minnesotans recounting how the enforcement surge disrupted their families and communities.
The state DFL party is expected to endorse a candidate at its convention in late May, well before the August primary vote.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Craig's attempt to walk back the vote may arrive too late to stop the bleeding among progressives, and the immigration issue shows no signs of fading from Democratic primary calculations."
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