Minnesota Senate race takes bizarre turn after dark family history uncovered

Minnesota's Senate contest has picked up an unexpected storyline about Democratic nominee Peggy Flanagan's ancestry. Alpha News, a Minnesota outlet, dug through decades-old newspaper coverage and court files to describe her grandfather, John Jacob Hartmann. According to that reporting, he spent many years confined in psychiatric facilities, fled custody on two occasions, and was suspected in several killings without ever being charged. Local papers connected him to at least four deaths during the 1970s and early 1980s, according to Fox News.

Flanagan, who serves as lieutenant governor, is competing against Michelle Tafoya, a onetime television sports reporter running as a Republican, for the seat Democrat Tina Smith is vacating. The election is only weeks away. Neither candidate has publicly addressed the revelations, though they have stirred conversation online. Andrew Kolvet of Turning Point USA posted about mental illness in her family, and Dustin Grage, who writes a column for Town Hall, said the findings made sense to him.

Flanagan has often described her background: a single mother who depended on food assistance and housing help, and a father of Indigenous heritage who campaigned for tribal land rights. It remains unclear whether voters will hold the grandfather's past against her.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →