Ally of Angie Craig Denies Seeking Endorsement From Hospitalized Sen. John Hoffman

WASHINGTON — An associate of Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) has disputed claims that he sought a political endorsement from Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman while the senator was recovering in the intensive care unit after an assassination attempt in June 2025.

Dave Wellstone, son of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, told HuffPost that he has never been a formal surrogate for Craig's campaign and that any conversation he had with Hoffman about supporting Craig took place well after the shooting and was initiated by Wellstone himself, not at Craig's direction.

'This seems like a mix-up of timing and conflating stuff,' Wellstone said. 'I'm assuming people were heavily sedated at the time… I would never ask for someone's endorsement when they're hooked up to a machine and maybe dying.'

Wellstone said he visited Hoffman several times during his recovery — bringing a favorite meal from Cossetta, a St. Paul restaurant — but that he did not speak with the senator while Hoffman was in the ICU. 'I didn't talk to him in the ICU. Period,' he said, adding, 'I care about him as a friend.'

The dispute emerged publicly after Hoffman, who was wounded along with his wife Yvette in the June attack, said at a campaign event that a Craig ally visited him twice and asked for an endorsement: once when he was in the ICU and once at his home. The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, was later convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus a consecutive 40-year term for the shootings that also killed former state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

State Sen. Erin Maye Quade told HuffPost she heard Hoffman's account while visiting him in rehab after he left the ICU, saying Hoffman mentioned visitors who had come to the hospital and remarked that someone 'came and saw me and was talking about endorsing Angie Craig.'

Yvette Hoffman, wife of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, says Angie Craig ally Dave Wellstone is lying about not trying to get her husband's endorsement for Craig right after he'd survived an assassination attempt. Yvette Hoffman's Threads account

Rep. Angie Craig has called the accusation 'categorically false.' She acknowledged reaching out to Hoffman about her Senate bid but said any request for political support occurred nearly two months after the attack — at a time when she believed Hoffman was again discussing endorsements publicly.

At a Minnesota Public Radio debate, Craig reiterated that she 'did not' and 'would never' ask for a hospitalized senator's political backing while he was in the ICU. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Craig's primary opponent, characterized the episode as a conversation involving the Hoffman family rather than a unilateral action by Craig.

The situation intensified after Wellstone told HuffPost he had spoken to Hoffman on his own behalf and that he was frustrated to be publicly identified as the visitor in question. 'It's icky,' he said. 'They're all my friends…. I'm just disappointed I'm even mentioned as a possibility. This is not who I am.'

Yvette Hoffman has publicly accused Wellstone of lying about the timing and nature of his visits. On social media she wrote, 'We have certainly learned who true friends are and who are liars,' and called Craig's response 'classic gaslighting' for suggesting the Hoffmans were questioning Craig's integrity while also implying the Hoffmans might be lying.

Wellstone — who has long avoided elective politics despite his family name and civic profile — said episodes like this are a reason he stays out of campaigns. 'This is the very kind of stuff I can't stand,' he said. 'I'm not running for office because I don't do this.'

The dispute has added tension to the competitive Minnesota Senate primary and prompted public responses from multiple campaign camps and community figures as voters consider both the candidates' records and their conduct in the aftermath of a violent attack on a political family.