Minnesotas Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan reveals dark secret from her childhood

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has started to open up about her dark past.

The 45 year old, who may become the states first female governor if Tim Walz is elected vice president, spoke up recently about how she witnessed her then-stepfather abuse her mother starting at the age of about 10.

My mom stayed because she wanted me to be able to go through college, Flanagan recounted at a recent visit to Cornerstone Advocacy Center for victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence and human trafficking, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. 

She said she only realized that violence inside the home was not normal when she left for college and learned that other children did not grow up that way. 

Most people dont call home to see if I should come home after school, or if I should go to my best friend Laurens house, Flanagan said.

Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, has spoken up about the domestic violence she witnessed as a child

Flanagan (pictured with her husband) may become the states first female governor if Tim Walz is elected vice president

But for many years, Flanagan did not feel comfortable talking about what she had endured - even as she connected with voters about other aspects of her personal life, such as discussing what it was like to grow up with a single mother in St. Louis Park who relied on public programs.

That began to change in 2009, when she went to Washington DC with the progressive training group Wellstone Action to see then-Vice President Joe Biden receive an award from the Sheila Wellstone Institute for his advocacy for domestic violence victims.

There, Flanagan said she felt compelled to tell Biden about the abuse she observed as a child.

I just started weeping and the vice president stood up and gave me a hug. I literally cried into his chest, the lieutenant governor told the Star Tribune.

And he said, "If you can tell the vice president that story. I bet you can tell other people that story."

In the years since, Flanagan has started to refer to herself as a survivor and child witness of domestic abuse, without going into details about what she went through.

She said that starting at the age of 10, she witnessed her then-stepfather abuse her mother

David Wellstone, who was with Flanagan on the 2009 trip said that when the lieutenant governor now shares her story with others it gives permission to others to open up.

Theres so much stigma around the issue, and there can be so much shame, he said.

When somebody as powerful as she is, and all that she attained, can talk about it, it gives a whole new level of hope and the ability for people to tell their story.

Staff members at Cornerstone, including Executive director Artika Roller, also said they heard Flanagan speak about her past at a rally for action among advocates and survivors.

For me, it gives hope that people can not only overcome traumatic situations, they can excel and thrive, Roller said.

Flanagan said she is now a cycle-breaker and is raising her daughter as one too

Flanagan, who is a member of the White Earth Nation, said she also wants young women - especially young Native American women - to know that we can take up space and that we are valuable.

We need to talk about it, said Flanagan, who is a mother to a girl in the sixth-grade. 

I am a cycle-breaker and I am raising a cycle-breaker, she said.

She also noted that the last time she saw Biden, he remembered their conversation from more than a decade ago.

Flanagan, he reportedly told her, I bet youve saved a lot of lives.