ST. PAUL — U.S. Senate candidates sparred over tariffs, immigration and SNAP at the Farmfest forum on Wednesday, just under a week out of the Aug. 11 primary.
The race for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Tina Smith is set to see contested primaries on both sides of the ballot: the DFL between U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the GOP between Adam Schwarze, Michele Tafoya and Royce White.
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GOP-endorsed candidate Schwarze was notably absent from the forum on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Farmfest said he didn’t meet their polling criteria to qualify — at least a 15% showing.
Candidates showed agreement on investing in biofuels — and opposition to Prop 12, a voter-enacted California law upheld by the Supreme Court, saying Minnesota should decide what happens with its pork.
The candidates split on tariffs. Craig and Flanagan said they opposed President Donald Trump’s tariffs and said farmers need stability and certainty.
Tafoya said in the short term, “it stinks,” and that she supports federal assistance to farmers, but seemingly backed the tariffs regardless.
“I think that some tariffs can be used as leverage to bring people to the table,” she said. “South America, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Japan, the EU, and the UK have all come to the table.”
White said the U.S. has “paid for the rise of every other nation” and asked, “When is enough enough?”
Asked about the use of farmland for solar farms or data centers, Tafoya said the decision should start with local communities. White said, “We should strip the Chinese Communist Party of every piece of farmland they have in this country.”
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Craig called for transparency on data centers, as several projects across the state have used nondisclosure agreements with local government. Flanagan made the case communities shouldn’t foot the bill for Big Tech.
“My biggest question for any of these investments is, who benefits?” Flanagan said. “Because right now, as we see, these data centers being stood up, the folks who are benefiting are these AI tech billionaires like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg.”
Asked what the candidates would do about access to labor, Craig and Flanagan backed creating a pathway to legal status for longtime undocumented farmworkers and H-2A visas.
Tafoya said Democrats give a false choice of secure borders and labor. She said she’s not for “amnesty” but that she’s for H-2A visa reform, “so that workers can be here for a period of time and then go back and then re-up that authorization.”
White came down the hardest on undocumented workers and said a “pathway for people who came into this country illegally to citizenship is amnesty.”
“The border is not restored until the 20 million foreign invaders that were let into this country intentionally are deported,” he said. “Every last one of them — mass deportations, mass deportations, 15 to 20 million foreign invaders as an appetizer.”
Craig and Flanagan also found common ground on SNAP cuts, while Republican candidates ridiculed the program and pointed to fraud.
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“I'll just say it is so clear to me that Michele Tafoya doesn't understand how SNAP works,” Craig said. “If you're talking about the SNAP program, the federal government provides part of the money. But if you're trying to blame anybody for the SNAP program, the counties administer the SNAP program in Minnesota. That means your Republican counties and your Democratic counties are going to have to pick up the cost of this program.”
Candidates didn’t waste many opportunities to attack each other. Although Flanagan and Craig didn’t come after one another once — parting from their campaign strategy thus far.
Craig, who has repeatedly said she thinks Tafoya will be the Republican candidate on November's ballot, criticized Tafoya on several occasions.
“Michele, I'm going to educate you a little bit,” Craig said. “The reason why we haven't been able to get year-round E15 across the finish line is because the Trump administration is in the pocket of Big Oil.”
White singled out Tafoya on abortion, saying he is the only candidate who stands for the “sanctity of life.” Tafoya has said she is pro-choice up until 12 weeks.
Tafoya seemingly brushed off the jab and directed the conversation back to fraud: “I'm going to let the attackers attack.”
Farmfest also hosted a forum for gubernatorial candidates Wednesday morning. Early voting in person and by mail for the primary is underway for the Aug. 11 primary that will determine who advances for each party in November.
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