Hillary Clinton has cast her first U.S. Senate endorsement of the 2026 midterms behind Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, drawing a swift White House rebuttal to her attacks on President Trump.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate race, marking her first endorsement of a Senate candidate in the 2026 midterm cycle.
Fox News Digital reported that Clinton shared Flanagan’s post on Bluesky and issued a separate statement praising the lieutenant governor while blaming President Trump for higher family costs.
Flanagan is running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who announced last year she would not seek re-election. Republican nominee Michele Tafoya stands opposite Flanagan in the general election contest.
Clinton framed the race as a chance for Minnesota voters to elevate a longtime advocate for children and families. Flanagan answered by tying herself tightly to Clinton’s record.
Clinton’s Bluesky message was direct.
"Minnesota, you have an opportunity to select an extraordinary person and public servant as your next U.S. senator. Please take it!"
Flanagan posted her own thanks, casting the endorsement as continuity with decades of Democratic work on family issues.
"@hillaryclinton.bsky.social has spent five decades fighting for working families, dedicating her career to making the case that every child in this country deserves a fair shot. I’m honored to have Secretary Clinton’s support, and I’ll proudly carry on her fight in the US Senate."
Clinton’s longer statement went further, attacking Trump’s record on household budgets and praising Flanagan’s path from the Children’s Defense Fund to the lieutenant governor’s office.
"Donald Trump has made it harder for families to afford childcare, groceries, and health care for their kids. His tariffs and war in Iran are driving up prices, and his budget ripped health care and food assistance away from children so billionaires could get another tax cut,"
She continued that Flanagan “has spent her career fighting for children and families” and “delivered for them,” adding she would be “that same champion in the Senate” and that Clinton was “proud to endorse her.”
White House officials did not let the criticism stand. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers pushed the blame back onto Democrats and listed results she attributed to Trump.
"Did Hillary Clinton forget that her political party created the ‘affordability’ crisis? President Trump is fixing it by delivering real results: he signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, drastically cut the cost of prescription drugs, added more than one million private-sector jobs, launched a manufacturing renaissance, and sent 401(k)s to record highs. Democrats pretend to care about ‘affordability’ while supporting socialist candidates whose policies would cost every American household $355,000 over 10 years while adding $49 trillion to the deficit."
Spokesman Davis Ingle struck a sharper personal note while defending the administration’s economic posture.
"President Trump is creating good-paying jobs, securing trillions of dollars in investments, and positioning our country to dominate the remainder of the 21st century. Meanwhile, Crooked Hillary Clinton is still whining about her spectacular 2016 election defeat. It’s time for Hillary to move on."
The exchange puts the Minnesota race inside a familiar national fight: Democrats recycling cost-of-living attacks, and the White House answering with jobs, taxes, and growth claims while reminding voters who lost in 2016.
Smith’s decision not to run created the vacancy. Flanagan celebrated her primary night in Minneapolis on Aug. 11, 2026. Tafoya cast her primary ballot the same day in Edina. Clinton appeared at the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2026 annual meeting in New York later that September.
Clinton’s move gives Flanagan a high-profile national seal early in the cycle. It also hands Republicans a clear contrast: a lieutenant governor carrying forward Clinton-era priorities against a GOP nominee already criticizing Democratic leadership in Minnesota.
Voters will decide whether “fighting for children and families” as defined by Clinton and Flanagan matches the results they see in prices, jobs, and the border, or whether the White House ledger on taxes, employment, and investment lands harder.
Endorsements from yesterday’s standard-bearers do not lower grocery bills. Minnesota families will judge the record, not the nostalgia.
