Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan open to running for governor in 2026

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would be ready to run for governor if people want her to serve, she said.

If Gov. Tim Walz is elected vice president, Flanagan said in an interview at the Star Tribune’s booth at the State Fair she will be ready to step into the role of governor.

And, she said, she would be ready to seek the office under her own name in 2026.

“If the people of Minnesota want me to continue to serve, I am absolutely open to that,” Flanagan said. But whether she serves in government or returns to the nonprofit sector after the next election, Flanagan said she will have the same goals.

“My vocation is always the same: to make sure people are seen, heard and valued.”

Nothing is certain, she said. Given the unexpected political turns of the last two months, Flanagan said anyone who thinks they can predict the future is probably wrong.

Flanagan said she too often sees women shy from admitting to their ambition.

“I think a lot of times women are expected to say like, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t know,’” Flanagan said. “I’m not going to say that. I’m going to say if people want me to lead, I’m going to continue to lead.”

Flanagan said after six years of working as a partner to Walz in the administration, she feels prepared to step up if Walz is elected with Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

The 2023 legislative session, with the DFL in control of the House, Senate and governor’s office and passing a long list of Democratic bills, was the culmination of decades of organizing, Flanagan said, and she said is looking to continue that work in 2025 and beyond.

“I checked everything that was on my list off the list,” Flanagan said of the 2023 session. “And now we’re making a new list of all the additional things we need to do for folks.”

See the entire interview here.