With Election Day only days away, Minnesota’s Senate contest is tightening as allegations of widespread fraud dominate the campaign. Republican Michelle Tafoya and Democratic Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan confronted the issue during a spirited Friday debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio News.

Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter, and Flanagan are competing to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who announced her retirement from Congress last year. The candidates also clashed over the Iran war, support for Israel, and the Trump and Walz administrations.

Fraud took center stage after a viral YouTube video from independent journalist Nick Shirley claimed to uncover $110 million in fraudulent payments in December 2025. The video prompted federal investigations and intensified scrutiny of Minnesota officials.

Tafoya directly challenged Flanagan’s fitness for the Senate because of her role in the Walz administration. “This historic fraud happened under her watch, and suddenly, she’s looking out for Medicaid and SNAP? Sell it to someone else, Peggy,” Tafoya said.

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“She’s asking for a promotion,” Tafoya said. “You’re her boss. You pay her. I think she deserves a pink slip.”

BREAKING: Michele Tafoya just destroyed Peggy Flanagan on Minnesotans losing access to programs.

“When she was second in command of this state… Minnesota saw billions, and billions, and billions of fraud dollars, walk out the door” Brutal. https://t.co/GWXrdfcNDO — Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 16, 2026

A June House Oversight Committee report alleged that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison knew about systemic fraud in federally funded social service programs as early as 2019. The findings added another layer of pressure to Flanagan’s effort to separate her responsibilities from Walz’s oversight.

Flanagan told the debate audience, “Fraud of any kind is completely unacceptable,” while pointing toward Walz’s acceptance of responsibility. “The governor has been very clear that the buck stops with him,” Flanagan said.

“He was the one who had oversight here. I’ve led on issues like paid family and medical leave, nation-leading child tax credit, making sure that kids get breakfast and lunch at school. Those are the things, and those are the areas where I took the lead,” Flanagan said.

PEGGY FLANAGAN JUST TRIED TO DODGE BILLIONS IN MINNESOTA FRAUD.

Pressed on the fraud that happened while she was Tim Walz's lieutenant governor, Flanagan passed the buck: "The governor has been very clear that the buck stops with him." Then she changed the subject to paid leave and school lunches. Michele Tafoya didn't let it slide: "There is no excuse for $9 billion of sacred taxpayer money leaving the state and going to criminals and hollowing out important programs along the way." She was second in command the whole time. Either she knew or she wasn't paying attention. Either way, she should not be a Senator. — Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 17, 2026

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Flanagan offered a similar account during a September interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, saying Walz “took the lead on fraud.” She added: “I certainly was part of conversations, but I did not lead in this area of work.”

Walz also accepted blame during an appearance on “The Lever” podcast released Friday, while criticizing the Trump administration. “It’s one of the reasons I accept responsibility for that,” Walz said while discussing the continuing damage the fraud allegations have caused his party.

The controversy extends beyond campaign rhetoric. In April, former Minnesota fraud investigations manager Jay Swanson testified that state officials knew about coordinated fraud networks pillaging public benefit programs as early as 2014 but silenced investigators who attempted to stop them.

Swanson, a former Minnesota state trooper, managed a fraud investigations unit within the Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General from 2014 to 2018. He said investigators were even ordered to delete findings from reports.

“I can’t tell you how shocked we were to come to the Department of Human Services and learn after a few years that not only was the theft of untold millions of dollars tolerated, but those who tried to stop it would be subjected to the wrath of high-ranking department officials,” Swanson said.

Swanson testified that officials ignored warnings and hired a consultant to discredit the investigators’ findings before officials “shoved it under the carpet.” That testimony has helped keep Minnesota’s fraud problems firmly planted in the Senate campaign.

In May, the Department of Justice announced indictments against 15 people accused of $90 million in fraud. FBI Director Kash Patel said the cases included the two largest Medicaid fraud cases ever filed in the district.

“The defendants defrauded Minnesota public healthcare resources for tens of millions, targeting programs such as Housing Stabilization Services, Child Care, Medicaid programs, Individualized Home Supports (IHS), and more,” Patel wrote on X at the time.

Today - 15 individuals have been indicted for over $90 million in an alleged massive healthcare fraud scheme in Minnesota, after a sweeping FBI investigation with @TheJusticeDept and our Interagency Partners.

These charges involve the two LARGEST Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in this district and first-of-their kind charges involving 7 additional Medicaid programs. As alleged, the defendants defrauded Minnesota public healthcare resources for tens of millions, targeting programs such as Housing Stabilization Services, Child Care, Medicaid programs, Individualized Home Supports (IHS), and more. In one case, defendants even developed a scheme worth over $40 million to target the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) – an autism healthcare program - paying kickbacks to parents who fraudulently used autism centers to diagnose children with autism regardless of medical necessity, and billing for services not actually provided. This not only defrauded taxpayers, but robbed valuable resources from families truly in need. President Trump gave this law enforcement team a mandate to investigate and systematically dismantle this exact kind of public fraud in America – which grossly abuses and mismanages money from hardworking American taxpayers - and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Today’s indictment in a massive moment in this effort. More to come. @DAGToddBlanche @VP @FBIDDRaia @SecKennedy @DrOzCMS — FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 21, 2026

In June, Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh, 42, was arrested in Somalia after U.S. authorities identified him as a recruiter in an alleged $300 million Minnesota fraud scheme. Eidleh was among 47 defendants charged in a 2022 indictment connected to the pandemic-era nonprofit Feeding Our Future.

Decision Desk HQ’s latest forecast gives Flanagan an 80% probability of winning the Senate race. The latest polling places Tafoya at 42.90% and Flanagan at 46.6%, while Flanagan leads the voting-share comparison 54% to 46%.

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