A report by Alpha News has introduced a dark chapter in the family history of Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan, detailing the decades-long psychiatric custody and alleged criminal activity of her grandfather, John Jacob Hartmann. The findings, drawn from old newspaper accounts and court records, resurface just weeks before the midterm elections where Flanagan, the state's lieutenant governor, faces former television sports reporter Michelle Tafoya for the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Tina Smith.
The reporting highlights that Hartmann spent decades in psychiatric custody, escaped twice, and was suspected in multiple killings, though he was never charged in any of the cases. Neither Flanagan nor Tafoya has commented publicly on the matter since the decades-old allegations resurfaced, but the development has generated discussion on social media. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet drew attention to the violent mental illness within Flanagan's family in a post on X, while Town Hall columnist Dustin Grage stated the report "adds up."
Flanagan has previously discussed her upbringing, noting she was raised by a single mother who relied on SNAP benefits and housing assistance, and was influenced by her indigenous father, a tribal land rights activist. In an interview with Minnesota Women's Press, Flanagan described her grandmother as having raised four daughters at a time when single motherhood was less common. Flanagan's mother, Patricia Hartmann, died in 2022; her obituary identified her father as John. Hartmann died on Feb. 6, 1983, when Flanagan was three years old.
According to a Feb. 9, 1983, article in what is now The Minnesota Star Tribune, Hartmann was committed on Nov. 1, 1951, after his wife petitioned the court claiming he was "mentally ill and dangerous." This commitment followed the discovery of the body of Theodore Foth burning in his room, an incident in which Hartmann was never charged. The paper also identified Hartmann as a suspect in the 1964 murder of a fellow patient at the Minnesota Security Hospital, though no charges were filed.
Hartmann was transferred to Anoka State Hospital in 1970 but escaped to New Mexico, where newspapers reported he was suspected in the deaths of a man and a woman. However, a 1973 Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling did not mention these murder allegations. Instead, the ruling noted that New Mexico authorities apprehended Hartmann based on a warrant issued by Minnesota Probate Judge Melvin Peterson in September 1970. The authorities found Hartmann living in New Mexico "without incident and without hiding his identity following his escape in Minnesota." A special prosecutor later released him, finding he was "sane and safe to be at large."
The following year, Hartmann was apprehended in Colorado on a misdemeanor charge and returned to Minnesota. In April 1979, he failed to return from a visit pass at the Minnesota Security Hospital and fled to Missouri. There, he allegedly threatened U.S. District Judge Miles Welton Lord during a phone call. Lord had previously presided over Hartmann’s federal challenge to his involuntary return from Colorado and had initially dismissed claims against several Minnesota officials. A 1979 Star Tribune article stated that federal authorities charged Hartmann for the alleged threat. Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan's campaign for comment.