THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: How Bitter Will The DFL Senate Primary Become?

 .

The Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL) 2026 U.S.

Senate primary might be the meanest intraparty

fight in modern Minnesota politics. 

With only two weeks to go before primary election

dau on August 11, the question is how much meaner

will it get.

Incumbent DFL U.S. Senator Tina Smith announced

her retirement in 2025, and it was assumed that

the DFL nominee would be the next senator. (No

Republican had won a Minnesota Senate seat since

2002.)

In fact, it has  been many election cycles since a

Republican has held any statewide office in 

Minnesota.

Two key recent developments could change this

DFL domination, at least in U.S. Senate races, 

9n 2926.

First, widespread allegations of fraud in state

programs, involving billions of taxpayer dollars

have been reported and are under investigation.

Since DFLer hold all the offices which oversee

these programs, a backlash, especially against

the DFL administration of Governor Tim Walz,

is occurring from Minnesota voters.

Second, the Republican’s leading Senate

candidate is Michelle Tafoya, a well-known and

popular sports broadcaster who has quickly

impressed political observers with her grasp of

the issues despite not having run for political

office before.

Peggy Flanagan sought and won the DFL

endorsement for the Senate seat, Angie Craig

skipped the endorsement, and has gone

directly to the August DFL primary. In recent

years, DFL voters have often ignored the

party endorsement for major offices.

In their public debates, the two candidates

have become increasingly confrontive and

personal. Their ads against each other, many

by PACs whose content the candidates

can’t control, have become increasingly mean.

Polls, which often do not accurately reflect

primary voters, indicate a close race. Libe;ral

Craig appears strong in the more moderate

suburbs, progressive Flanagan’s voter base is

in the more radical Twin Cities. Craig has the

most campaign finds; Flanagan has the most 

endorsements.

But the assumption that the primary winner

will automatically triumph in November is

no longer certain.

Tafoya attended her party convention, but

did not commit to accepting the endorsement.

The GOP convention voting was marred by. 

technical problems, so any contested

endorsement this year is virtually meaningless.

Tafoya, polls indicate, is far ahead of other

candidates, and is expected to win her primary

easily.

This  outcome leads to a too-close-to-call

Senate seat election in November. Thr DFL

party voter ID and GOTV efforts  are much

superior to those  of the GOP which remains

weak and disorganized, Tafoya will depend

primarily on her own campaigm and its

resources, The DFL nominee will need  to

heal her opponent’s supporters bruised

feelings.  And both candidates will need to

be able to appeal ti the growing number

of independent voters.

Thw Senate race in Minnesota appears to be

one of the more interesting and unexpected ones 

in this year’s midterm election cycle.

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Copyright (c) 2026 vy Barry Casselman. All rights reserved

THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: Ingredients Of A New Geopolitical World

 

A new global geopolitical landscape is now coming into

view as the post-Cold War international order dissolves.

The latest development is the imminent collapse of the

Islamic Republic of Iran, a major regional power which

served as the major state sponsor of terrorism not only

in the Middle Easr but also with influence beyond its

regional borders.

The two most populous nations, China and India

have now re-emerged as both economic and military

superpowers after centuries of decline. Each saw their

current national identity recreated just after World War II;

China as a communist totalitarian state, India as a

democratic socialist state. Both had been primarily rural

and agricultural, and both saw mass rural migration 

to cities and the creation of huge industrial urban centers. 

China remained totalitarian, but adopted some free 

market economic strategies while India evolved from 

rural socialism to urban capitalism.

From the devastation of World War II, the nations of

Europe re-emerged while they were also the main 

battleground of the Cold War between the democratic 

nations led by the U. S. and the communist states led 

by the Soviet Union. That Cold War persisted until the

early 1990s when the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed. 

and many of its vassal states broke away into sovereign

nations.

Much of western Europe then transformed a postwar

economic alliance into the European Union (EU), but 

this organization has proved to be ungovernable

and has gone into decline.

After a brief period as a democratic nation, Russia

has once again become an authoritarian state,. It 

aggressively invaded Ukraine, formerly part of the

Soviet Union and has become embroiled in a 

protracted and costly war it cannot win. This war

has also destabilized the whole region, as the EU

nations perceive a larger threat from Russia. The 

military alliance of the European nations and the

United States (NATO) has weakened in this period 

as the U.S, has turned its attention to its own 

hemisphere and adjacent South America.

In Asia, China seeks to expand its regional 

influence, but is constrained by the U.S., South 

Korea, Indonesia and Japan, as well as by 

India. China’s ambition to recover Taiwan remains 

a key unresolved regional issue.

In South America, failed leftist and oligarchal

nations are being replaced by conservative 

governments in a wave of continent-wide 

elections that embrace free markets.

As jihadist Iran fades, a new MIddle East 

geopolitical landscape is emerging under a potential

expansion of the Abraham Accords. The current war 

is serving as a possible catalyst bringing old 

adversaries and rivals together out of economic and 

security interests.

Old alliances in the new geopolitical world are being 

altered as a new global era is forming. Some historic 

conflicts are being replaced by new ones. As always, 

technology is a major catalyst for change.

The social and economic landscape of the new 

global world is still unclear, but each day seems to 

bring this geopolitical puzzle more and more into 

view.

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Copyright (c) 2026 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.