Minnesota’s closely watched U.S. Senate race takes center stage Friday as Democrat Peggy Flanagan and Republican Michele Tafoya meet for their only scheduled one-on-one debate of the general election campaign.
The debate begins at noon CT, or 1 p.m. ET, today, and will be hosted by MPR News as part of its Politics Friday program. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst will moderate the hour-long event.
Minnesota U.S. Senate Debate
Date: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026
Time: 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
Candidates: Peggy Flanagan (D) and Michele Tafoya (R)
Moderator: Brian Bakst
Coverage: MPR News
Live Stream: Watch Below
Watch Live – Minnesota Senate Debate
Flanagan and Tafoya are scheduled to debate beginning at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT. The event will air on MPR News radio and stream online through the network’s 2026 election coverage.
Alternate Link: MPR News YouTube
The debate comes with the race still close in recent polling. A Minnesota Star Tribune/KARE 11 poll conducted Oct. 5-7 found Flanagan ahead 47% to 43%, with 9% of likely voters still undecided. The survey included 800 likely voters and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Other recent polling has also shown the race competitive, including a KSTP/SurveyUSA survey that previously found the candidates essentially tied. Minnesota has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 2002, but Tafoya has kept the race much closer than Democrats might have expected earlier in the cycle.
Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, is running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith. Tafoya, a former national sports broadcaster, is making her first run for elected office.
The campaign has increasingly focused on social services fraud under the Walz-Flanagan administration, public safety, immigration enforcement, gas prices and President Trump’s standing in the state. Tafoya has made fraud and crime central parts of her closing argument, while Flanagan has tried to tie Tafoya more closely to Trump and national Republicans.
The debate gives both candidates one of their final major opportunities to make their case directly to voters before Election Day.
Watch the Minnesota Senate debate live beginning at 1 p.m. ET in the link above.
Follow the latest numbers on our 2026 Senate polls page and visit our 2026 Senate elections guide for more races around the country.