Matt Birk and Peggy Flanagan face off in high profile race for lieutenant governor
MINNEAPOLIS -- The two major party candidates for lieutenant governor are as well known as the candidates at the top of the ticket.
Former Viking Matt Birk is running with Dr. Scott Jensen on the Republican ticket.
Former legislator and current Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is running for reelection with Gov. Tim Walz.
At the GOP convention in May, Matt Birk signs were sometimes easier to spot than ones for Scott Jensen.
The former Vikings center brushes aside suggestions of overshadowing his running mate.
"Scott and I are both strong candidates in our own rights and strong conservatives and I think we make a good team," said Birk.
Flanagan is the progressive on the Walz Flanagan team.
"We are not going to agree 100% of the time. Frankly, nobody is. Really, I think One Minnesota - we work together across lines of difference to get things done," said Flanagan.
Flanagan sites her own Ojibwe heritage for her opposition to the development of the Boundary Waters.
"At no time do I stop being an Ojibwe woman that is the lens that I bring to this work," said Flanagan.
On social issues, Flanagan and Birk could not be further apart.
Birk, a staunch abortion opponent, recently created controversy suggesting women's careers fuel abortion demand.
"It was a forty-minute speech that they took three or four ten seconds and spliced them together," said Birk. "Abortion is not on the ballot. We are talking to Minnesotans what they are outraged about is the crime, they are outraged about their kids' schools, they are outraged about inflation."
Flanagan agrees economic issues are driving voters, but she says abortion rights are definitely on the ballot.
"I cannot believe that we are in a moment where my daughter will have fewer rights than I did," said Flanagan. "That is something that I think of all the time making sure she gets to make decisions about her own future."
