By Shane Goldmacher
Nov. 10, 2025, 9:00 a.m. ET

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is wading ever more deeply into the Democratic Party’s ideological tug of war, endorsing Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota in her contested primary race to replace the retiring Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat. The move is Mr. Sanders’s third endorsement in a competitive primary for Senate.

Ms. Flanagan, who was elected twice as the running mate of Gov. Tim Walz, is facing off against Representative Angie Craig, a Democrat. Their race is one of many primaries next year that will help determine the direction of the party.

In a statement provided first to The New York Times, Mr. Sanders hailed Ms. Flanagan as having “the guts to stand up for working people against the billionaires and the corporate interests.”

“I think the future rests with those of us who are going to stand with the working class, take on the oligarchs, take on massive levels of income and wealth inequality, and come up with an agenda and improve lives for ordinary people,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview last week ahead of his most recent endorsement.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/us/politics/bernie-sanders-peggy-flanagan-michigan-senate-endorsement.html