Minnesota Senate Race Jolted by Peggy Flanagan Family Past

An unusual and deeply personal issue has entered Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race after old records involving Democratic candidate Peggy Flanagan’s grandfather resurfaced in the final stretch before the election. The renewed attention centers on John Jacob Hartmann, whose history of psychiatric confinement, escapes and uncharged suspicions in several deaths was highlighted this week by Minnesota outlet Alpha News.

The report arrives as Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, competes against former television sports reporter Michelle Tafoya for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who is retiring. Neither Flanagan nor Tafoya has publicly commented since the decades-old allegations drew fresh attention. Still, the story has spread online and added a striking new dimension to an already closely watched contest.

Social media reaction followed quickly. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet referenced what he called violent mental illness in Flanagan’s family in a post on X that included a photo of Flanagan wearing a shirt reading, “Protect trans kids.” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage also weighed in, writing that the report “adds up.”

Flanagan has often discussed her upbringing in public, describing how she was raised by a single mother who relied on SNAP benefits and housing assistance. She has also spoken about the role of her Indigenous father, a tribal land rights activist, in shaping her advocacy for Native American communities. Less known publicly has been the Hartmann side of her family history.

According to a Minnesota Star Tribune death notice, Flanagan was three years old when Hartmann died on Feb. 6, 1983. The notice listed Flanagan’s mother, Patricia Hartmann, and her sisters Kathleen, Mary and Margaret as his surviving daughters. Patricia Hartmann’s 2022 obituary listed her maiden name as Hartmann and identified her father as John. In an interview with Minnesota Women’s Press, Flanagan said both her mother and grandmother were single mothers, and said her grandmother raised four daughters at a time when that was uncommon. Patricia later married Thomas Flanagan, who was identified as Peggy Flanagan’s stepfather in his obituary.

What the records say

A Feb. 9, 1983 newspaper article reported that Hartmann was committed on Nov. 1, 1951, after his wife petitioned the court, saying he was mentally ill and dangerous. The commitment came after Theodore Foth was found dead in a burning room, though Hartmann was never charged in that death. The same newspaper also identified Hartmann as a suspect in the 1964 killing of another patient at the Minnesota Security Hospital, but again no charges were filed.

Hartmann was transferred to Anoka State Hospital in 1970 and later escaped to New Mexico. Newspaper coverage at the time said he was suspected in the deaths of a man and a woman there. However, a 1973 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit did not mention those alleged killings. Instead, it said New Mexico authorities detained Hartmann on a Minnesota warrant issued by Probate Judge Melvin Peterson in September 1970 and found that he had been living openly and without incident after leaving Minnesota. A special prosecutor later concluded he was sane and safe to be at large, and released him.

The next year, Hartmann was apprehended in Colorado on a misdemeanor charge and returned to Minnesota. In April 1979, he failed to come back from a visit pass at the Minnesota Security Hospital and went to Missouri, where he allegedly threatened U.S. District Judge Miles Welton Lord in a phone call. Lord had previously overseen Hartmann’s federal challenge to his involuntary return from Colorado. Federal authorities charged Hartmann over the alleged threat, according to a 1979 Star Tribune report.

Whether any of this will affect voters remains unclear. The allegations concern a man who died more than four decades ago and who was never charged in several of the deaths with which he was linked. But with the race nearing its final weeks, the resurfacing of this family history has added a bizarre and uncomfortable subplot to one of Minnesota’s most prominent campaigns. Fox News Digital said it reached out to Flanagan’s campaign for comment.