Minnesota primary is latest Democratic proxy fight for Senate and a test for Trump-backed hopefuls

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The factional fight gripping the Democratic Party goes to Minnesota on Tuesday, when voters will settle another moderate-versus-progressive U.S. Senate primary.

The race between centrist U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is playing out in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration surge, which led to the shooting death of two protesters by federal officers in Minneapolis and galvanized the president's liberal opposition.

It will again take the temperature of Democratic primary voters a week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed won a bitter and divisive primary in Michigan that fired up the left and fueled anxiety among party leaders that Democrats will alienate moderate swing voters.

Whoever wins the primary for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, as it's known in Minnesota, will be the frontrunner in November. Minnesota voters haven't elected a Republican to a statewide office since 2006.

Still, Republicans are hoping a fraud scandal involving the widespread theft of public funds will give them an opening up and down the ballot.

Among the leading GOP candidates for governor is Mike Lindell — the Trump- endorsed pillow purveyor, who has been among the most persistent advocates of the lie that Trump's 2020 loss to Joe Biden was fraudulent. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in a primary against six other candidates.

In the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, Craig lined up support from Democratic establishment figures including House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as senators from battleground states.

She pointed to her record of winning tough races in a closely divided House district in the suburban Twin Cities, saying she has the experience to bring the change voters are demanding to Washington.

Flanagan has the support of leading progressive figures including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. She was also backed by Smith, the retiring incumbent.

The race has been shaped by the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, confrontations that were caught on camera and fueled a backlash to Trump's immigration policies. Flanagan has highlighted Craig's vote for the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that passed early in Trump's second term. Craig repudiated her support after Good and Pretti were killed.

U.S. support for Israel and the influence of corporations and wealthy donors have also figured prominently in a race that attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending by allies of both women.

Gov. Tim Walz has declined to endorse either candidate, but late last month his wife, Gwen Walz, endorsed Craig over Flanagan, a move seen as a repudiation of her husband's running mate and governing partner for two terms.

Trump hasn't endorsed a candidate on the Republican side, though former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya has support from the national GOP. Adam Schwarze, a Marine veteran and Navy SEAL, has the official backing of the state Republican committee and Royce White has an existing profile as a prior candidate, conservative commentator and a brief professional basketball career.

Republicans have another crowded primary in the race for governor.

Lindell established his national profile from his TV advertising campaign as the “MyPillow Guy.” He has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters and a persistent proponent of myths about the 2020 election. He lost a defamation lawsuit last year and was ordered to pay $2.3 million to a former employee of a voting systems company, whom he called a traitor.

Trump's endorsement carries enormous weight in GOP primaries, and few of his favored candidates have lost so far this year. But some prominent Minnesota Republicans worry Lindell is too toxic with independent voters and will drag down the entire GOP ticket. Even state GOP Chairman Alex Plechash has raised doubts about Lindell's electability.

Lindell’s primary opponents include state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who has strong backing from GOP elected officials, and businessman Kendall Qualls, who won the Minnesota GOP's endorsement.

Klobuchar is the leading Democratic candidate for governor.

No Republican has won a statewide race in Minnesota since Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected in 2006, but the state is more closely divided than that history would suggest.

In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Trump here by only 1.5 points, and in 2024, even with Walz on the ticket, Democrat Kamala Harris won the state by only 4 points.

In the state Legislature, Democrats hold just a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the House is split evenly between the parties.

Republicans think the fraud scandal, which led Walz to abandon his plans to run for a third term, gives them a rare opening to make inroads in an otherwise tough environment for the GOP.

At least 65 people have been convicted in a series of overlapping food fraud cases stemming from investigations that began during the Biden administration. One former nonprofit leader was sentenced in May to 42 years in prison in a $250 million fraud case.

Trump pointed to the scandals as justification for launching a massive immigration crackdown that he initially said would focus on the state’s large Somali community.

Gubernatorial candidate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., greets supporters after taking part in a Minnesota Governor Candidate Forum in Morgan, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Candidates for Minnesota governor, from left, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, Mike Lindell and Kendall Qualls participate in a forum at Farmfest, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Morgan, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Mike Lindell, gubernatorial candidate, greets Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who he will face in the Republican primary, as they arrive to take part in a Minnesota Governor Candidate Forum in Morgan, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks during a forum for U.S. Senate candidates at Farmfest, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Morgan, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, greets supporters during a campaign event at the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Twin Cities Office in Minneapolis, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

NEW YORK (AP) — The president's media company has tried its hand at a half-dozen new lines of business to lift its stock, but nothing has worked.

Now it's getting back to its roots.

In a conference call with investors Monday, the company behind Truth Social said it will be unwinding much of its expansion and doubling down on its original media business by selling a form of White House access, a move that has raised big ethical questions among Democrats and government watchdogs.

Trump started Truth Social after he was kicked off Twitter and Facebook, but the two reinstated him more than three years ago, so the company has had to transform itself. Instead of a “free speech” forum, it now acts more like a “hear it here first” site, a second White House press office where people get scoops from the president on everything from the Iran war to tariffs to the future of the U.S. central bank.

But shares of the parent company, Trump Media & Technology, kept falling so it decided to become more than a media company, and branched into unrelated industries like online betting, finance, investment funds, buying and storing bitcoin and nuclear energy.

Now it's returning to its original mission, with a twist: It's offering a special new service that grants fast access to President Trump's posts for a fee.

In a conference call with investors, the company's new chief executive, Kevin McGurn, said it had already signed up several high speed trading firms, each paying between $60,000 and $100,000 a month.

“We’re in the early innings,” said McGurn, noting that the potential market included data center companies, news organizations and developers of large language models, not just traders, and he was talking to them all.

McGurn has rejected the idea that the new business is an ethics quagmire as good-government groups have said, noting that other social media companies provide a similar service. As for the White House, it denies conflicts even exist between Trump the president and Trump the businessman where his private interests may influence his public policy.

Traders on Wall Street can make big money if they get White House news faster and so are signing up — 10 in the week since the service began, which may seem like a tiny number but translates into a major boost for the company. The monthly customers collectively are paying as much as $7 million and $12 million annually — two to three times the revenue the company took in for all its businesses last year.

Trump Media needs the money — and a lot more.

It's lost more than $1 billion since the start of last year, and its earnings report released Monday for the three months ended June 30 showed relief is not on the horizon. It lost another $238 million, though much of that was due to paper losses from the plunging value of its bitcoin holdings.

The clock is ticking to fix the company.

Trump Media depends partly on outside funding, specifically $1 billion raised from lenders with a special agreement that allows them to get paid back early. They can demand the company buy back their convertible notes on Nov. 30, 18 months before the loans mature.

That cashout date is just after the November midterms, which could impact the company should Democrats get control of Congress. Several current members, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, say they will hold formal investigations of Trump's businesses, including Trump Media, should they take over.

A third deadline is farther out, but the most consequential — the end of Trump's presidency.

Trump is a big draw for the platform's users, but it's not clear how many will read his posts after he leaves office, much less why traders will pay as much $1.2 million a year for sneak peeks at his posts if he's no longer able to declare on the site that the Strait of Hormuz is open or that he's hiking tariffs on dozens of countries.

The special, high-speed service, called Truth API, includes posts from other top posters on the site, but no one comes near the president in popularity. He has 13 million followers. The second biggest poster, his son, Donald Jr., has 7.5 million.

Other heavily followed posters include Trump administration members who also may fall in popularity once out of office, including FBI director Kash Patel and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A wild card is JD Vance, who will be out of his vice presidential job in 2028 but, if he runs for president and wins, may continue to post on the site where he has five million followers.

The other business line that McGurn is choosing to hold onto is nuclear fusion, a technology still not commercially available but that is getting a big boost by the current administration.

In June, the U.S. Department of Energy released a “road map” committing to government funding to speed the development of nuclear fusion as a national priority and calling for public-private partnerships.

Despite the help, investors still aren't convinced Trump Media has a rosy future.

After closing at about $62 shortly after it went public in 2024, the stock has plunged into the single digits, wiping out billions in stock market value.

On Monday, Trump Media dove again, down 8% to $9.39 a share.

FILE - President Donald Trump holds up an image taken from his Truth Social account at an event about coal, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson,File)