Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan came out swinging during their second debate of the U.S. Senate campaign on Monday.

Fraud, endorsements and Israel defined the MPR News debate, as well as questions over which of the two Democrats is best positioned to defeat a Republican in November.

The debate came two weeks before the Aug. 11 primary as questions about outside spending in the race and electability have intensified in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Flanagan and Craig are running to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith. The winner of next month’s primary will face the winner of the Republican primary featuring Adam Schwarze, Michele Tafoya and Royce White.

Questions over how the U.S. should end the war in Iran, halting arms sales to Israel and the role of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) dominated the debate.

Both candidates expressed their opposition to the war, with Craig touting her past votes to end the war in Iran in Congress, while Flanagan said there’s been too much money spent on the conflict.

They diverged on whether the conflict between Israel and Gaza is a “genocide,” as Flanagan has described it.

“I don’t think that the terminology is helpful to bringing us to a two-state solution,” Craig said when asked if she thinks Israel’s actions against Palestinians should be considered a genocide.

Flanagan used the question to bring up Craig’s vote against ending U.S. military aid to Israel — a measure Flanagan would support — arguing the vote showed the congresswoman is out of step with voters who want tougher action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The lieutenant governor also said her “values do not align with AIPAC,” an influential lobbying group that advocates for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship that Flanagan has attacked for donating heavily to Craig’s past campaigns.

But Craig seized on Flanagan’s remarks to poke holes in what’s become one of the lieutenant governor’s main lines of attacks against her.

Flanagan has met with the group several times, though her campaign says she did not explicitly seek AIPAC’s support.

“The lieutenant governor is being completely disingenuous about her soliciting support from AIPAC,” Craig said. “She met with AIPAC. She also provided a position paper to AIPAC. So again, this is Peggy Flanagan, who has been very hypocritical.”

Craig and Flanagan sparred over some of the biggest flashpoints in the race: the congresswoman’s Laken Riley Act vote and the lieutenant governor’s role in the state’s fraud crisis.

Flanagan slammed Craig for having stood by her vote for the Laken Riley Act for months, even after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by federal agents. The bill allows for undocumented immigrants arrested for certain nonviolent crimes to be detained by federal authorities.

“I made that decision to accept the accountability of that vote to tell the people of Minnesota that I do regret that vote,” Craig said. “I believe in being honest with the people of Minnesota when I make a mistake.”

But Craig used her admission of regret on the vote to hit Flanagan for not taking responsibility for the fraud crisis.

“It pisses me off that you completely put all of the responsibility on the governor of Minnesota when you were the number two elected leader in Minnesota during that period of time,” Craig said.

She has been warning that the lieutenant governor’s proximity to the fraud crisis puts the Senate seat at risk in the general election as Republicans look to use it as a top campaign issue in November.

Flanagan accused Craig of using “Republican talking points” to attack her.

The endorsement battle in the Senate race was a fixture of Monday’s debate. Both candidates were pressed over whether they sought Gov. Tim Walz’s endorsement, questions that Craig and Flanagan both sidestepped.

Craig was also pressed on whether she sent a friend to ask for Hoffman’s endorsement while he was recovering from an assassination attempt.

“I did not. I would never, and no one would ever ask Sen. Hoffman for his support while he was recovering in the ICU,” Craig said.

Flanagan used the question of whether she sought Walz’s endorsement to shift the focus to coming out on her own in politics without the shadow of the governor. While Craig used it as an opportunity to talk about First Lady Gwen Walz backing her campaign.

“This race has been important for me to step out into the ‘Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate’ campaign, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.”

In recent days, Flanagan has benefited from national progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren coming out to Minnesota to stump for her. Smith has also been boosting Flanagan, telling voters the lieutenant governor is best equipped to take over her seat.

But Craig has been touting big-name local backers, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and, most recently, First Lady Gwen Walz.

Flanagan spoke about the importance of reversing the Republican cuts to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, using her personal story of relying on funding from the federal program to survive growing up.

Craig used the debate to promote a public-option health care plan, or “Medicare for all who want it,” compared to the universal single payer “Medicare for all” Flanagan and other progressive Democrats support.

Flanagan said she’s worried about what the rise of AI means for the workforce and taking jobs away from workers. “We have to be incredibly cautious when it comes to artificial intelligence,” the lieutenant governor warned, adding she thinks corporations should “pay a price” for those kinds of job losses, either through taxes or other means.

Craig, whom Flanagan has accused of being funded by AI interests, said the nation needs to take an “aggressive approach” to regulating AI.

Craig said AI companies need to pay for the electricity they use.

“We have to take an active role in making sure that this is not a job killer for Americans,” the congresswoman said.

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