Democratic group launches ICE attack against Rep. Angie Craig in Minnesota Senate primary

A Democratic outside group is unleashing an early attack on one of the contenders in the hotly contested Minnesota Senate primary, underscoring how the fight for the future of the party is reaching new heights.

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The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association is launching a $2 million advertising effort , shared first with NBC News, criticizing Democratic Rep. Angie Craig for votes on immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term.

“This is a defining primary, because we have seen across the country voters are so sick of people who go to D.C. and go along to get along. And they’re looking for experienced people who are morally centered and grounded in the work that they’re doing,” DLGA Executive Director Kevin Holst said.

Holst later said the committee is “trying to be a leader in electing the right kinds of Democrats,” including diverse leaders with “lived experiences but also experience outside of D.C.”

Craig, a moderate lawmaker who flipped a Republican-held district in 2018, is locked in a bitter primary against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a staunch progressive, to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith. The primary is not until Aug. 11, but the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is expected to endorse a candidate at its convention at the end of May.

Immigration and particularly the future of Immigration and Customs Enforcement have emerged as a dividing line in Democratic primaries amid Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

It’s especially resonant in Minnesota, where federal immigration agents shot and killed two American citizens this year. It’s also the state where Liam Ramos was detained, with the image of the young boy wearing a blue bunny hat and a backpack becoming emblematic of the administration’s detention efforts .

The DLGA’s ad targeting Craig refers to Liam and is narrated by Mary Granlund, a member of the local school board.

“I was there. There were armed agents, masks on, guns. He’s not a criminal. He’s 5,” Granlund says in the 30-second spot. “I begged them to stop. They locked him up in a Texas detention center. Who takes a child?”

Granlund goes on to say that Craig “helped ICE do it. She voted to give ICE the power to abduct and indefinitely detain parents and kids like Liam. And then she voted to thank them. How could we possibly trust Angie Craig?”

The ad refers to Craig’s support for the Laken Riley Act , an immigration detention measure that Trump signed into law shortly after he returned to office last year. In early March, Craig wrote in the Minnesota Star Tribune that she regretted that vote.

“It is true that the president is not using any laws to carry out these sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans, but it’s also become clear that supporting any bill that gives ICE new authority in this administration was the wrong decision,” Craig wrote.

Following the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, known as Operation Metro Surge, Craig also introduced articles of impeachment against then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and she announced legislation to strip new funding ICE in the GOP’s sweeping tax cut and spending measure known as Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Holst dismissed Craig’s reversal on the Laken Riley Act as “an act of political expediency.”

“She had over a year to say that she was wrong for this,” he said.

The ad also knocks Craig for supporting a resolution that included a line expressing gratitude to law enforcement officers, including ICE personnel, “ for protecting the homeland.”

The resolution was largely about condemning an antisemitic attack in Colorado, and Craig has pushed back against criticism of her vote for it.

“You make difficult choices on these Republican gotcha bills every single day when you’re serving. And so I would ask, would the lieutenant governor have voted against a resolution to condemn antisemitism?” Craig told HuffPost this year.

Holst noted the majority of the Democratic caucus opposed the resolution.

“You can stand against antisemitism eight days of the week without voting to thank ICE for their work across the country,” Holst said.

Meanwhile, Craig’s campaign has criticized Flanagan over donations the DLGA received from CoreCivic, a private prison company and ICE contractor, when she was chairwoman of the group.

Holst said it was a “very disingenuous attack,” noting that the donation was solicited in November 2023, before Flanagan became the chairwoman, and that Flanagan asked the committee to return the money. Holst said the DLGA is trying to donate the money to an immigrant rights group.

The Craig campaign referred to the CoreCivic money in a statement responding to the DLGA attack.

“Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan accepted millions of corporate dollars as chair of the DLGA — including from the pharma, tobacco, oil and gas industries and from an ICE detention center contractor and continues to mislead voters about this fact. And now that money is being used to support her in her Senate campaign,” Craig campaign spokesperson Antoine Givens said.

“The DLGA is not talking about the Lt. Governor’s record because all she has is a record of not showing up to work and attempting to take credit for the work of Governor Walz,” Givens added, referring to Minnesota Star Tribune reporting that Flanagan had not appeared at public events with Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. The report cited “people close to Flanagan” saying she had been “sidelined,” while people in Walz’s orbit said she stepped back amid her Senate campaign.

Holst said the DLGA focused on immigration enforcement in its opening salvo against Craig because the issue still resonates in Minnesota, even as Operation Metro Surge has drawn down.

“This is an issue that hasn’t gone away in Minnesota. While ICE’s efforts are not as intense as they were five months ago, this is still a trauma that people on the ground are dealing with,” Holst said, promising that additional ads would feature Minnesotans talking about how ICE upended their lives.

“While ICE’s operations are not as intense as they were five months ago, this is a lingering trauma that members of the community are facing,” Holst said.