Dem Senate Candidate’s Campaign Cleans Up Past Statement After She’s Accused of Inflating Record in WSJ Report

Screenshot via MPR News

Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan is facing accusations of inflating her academic record, thanks to a bombshell Wall Street Journal report.

Flanagan, who is currently Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, said during a 2016 legislative hearing that she “graduated Phi Beta Kappa” at the University of Minnesota, but she is not listed as an honors student in 2002, The Wall Street Journal reported. The university requires a 3.65 GPA for seniors to make the list.

“I graduated Phi Beta Kappa because I saw myself reflected in my teacher and I saw myself reflected in my curriculum,” Flanagan said in 2016 while promoting teaching diversity in schools.

Flanagan’s campaign responded to the Journal after eight days and confirmed that she had not graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

“The lieutenant governor was nominated for Phi Beta Kappa, but like too many other students, she couldn’t afford the application fees to become a part of the honor society,” campaign spokesperson Alexandra Fetissoff said.

The report noted that the current lifetime membership fee is $99 and many chapters offer financial assistance.

Flanagan’s team also confirmed that the Democratic candidate did not receive a double major at college despite her state biography stating that she “earned her bachelor’s degree in American Indian studies and child psychology.”

Flanagan graduated with a child psychology major and a minor in American Indian studies, according to her campaign.

Flanagan is running against Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL broadcaster in a race where Flanagan has mostly kept a lead in polling.

A local poll sponsored by KSTP-TV Minneapolis found Flanagan with a three-point lead over her opponent, and the Republican pollster Trafalgar Group had her leading by four points last week.

The pair clashed last week in a debate on issues like ICE’s mass deportation efforts. Flanagan said the agency needs to be “ripped apart,” and, in a more heated moment, she accused Tafoya of blaming Minneapolis resident Renee Good for her own death after she was shot and killed by federal immigration agents.

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