Flanagan announces bid for Winkler’s MN House seat

Peggy Flanagan, a liberal political activist and executive director of the Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota, has announced her bid to run in a special election for Rep. Ryan Winkler's St. Louis Park seat.

“My mom and I moved to St. Louis Park when I was a baby," Flanagan wrote in her campaign announcement. "As a single mother, she chose this community because of the opportunities that it provided for good public education, stable neighborhoods, and economic security, and she was right. My family and I settled in my hometown for the same reasons, and now I want to give back."

DFLer Winkler announced this week that he would retire from the Legislature and move to Belgium, where his wife has taken a job. He was first elected in 2006 to the solidly DFL district.

Flanagan has also worked for Sen. Al Franken, Wellstone Action and Minnesotans United for All Families, a group that successfully campaigned against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

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