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Minnesota Senate Contest Erupts Over Competing Accounts of Endorsement Request

The dispute could shift late primary dynamics by raising questions about campaign conduct and voter trust.

State Sen. John Hoffman climbs the stairs at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 17, 2026, the first day of the 2026 legislative session.
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Overview

  • State Sen. John Hoffman said at a Flanagan campaign event last Friday that a friend visited him twice on Rep. Angie Craig’s behalf to seek his endorsement while he was in the ICU and again while he was recovering at home.
  • Craig’s campaign called Hoffman’s account “categorically false” and released screenshots of two texts that show a June 14, 2025 condolence message and an Aug. 5 message asking to discuss the open Senate race.
  • Hoffman maintains the friend confirmed the requests came from Craig and says the texts do not address his claim about the in-person visits, and both sides continue to stand by their versions of events.
  • The dispute surfaced in Monday’s debate and other late-stage campaign events with the Aug. 11 DFL primary two weeks away, sharpening attacks over character, endorsements and electability.
  • The Hoffmans’ 2025 shooting and the attacker’s recent life sentences are a constant factual backdrop to the disagreement and have heightened public sensitivity to how campaigns treat victims.