Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya announced Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, entering a race that could draw national attention as the Republican Party seeks to flip a seat that has been held by Democrats for more than two decades.
Tafoya, a longtime sports broadcaster, is running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat who has announced her retirement following the end of her term. Republicans view the open seat as a potential opportunity, as Minnesota has leaned Democratic for several years, according to The Hill.
Tafaya announced her candidacy in a campaign video released Wednesday morning, framing her run as a response to what she called political dysfunction.
“We’ve got to decide not between right versus left, but right versus wrong, and we’ve got to decide, are we going to build up with the common sense that made this country great, or are we going to tear us apart with the corruption and the crazy that we’re seeing?” Tafoya said. “I think people know the answer to that, and that’s why I’m running.”
She shared her priorities would address corruption and fraud, protecting taxpayer dollars, supporting law enforcement and “keeping female sports for female athletes.”
“As Minnesota’s senator, I will clean up the system, fighting corruption, ending the fraud and protecting your tax dollars,” Tafoya said.
Who is Michele Tafoya?
Tafoya spent much of her career in journalism on the sidelines of NFL games reporting for ABC and ESPN, and ending her career working as a “Sunday Night Football” sideline reporter for NBC. She also helped with Olympics coverage and other sporting events throughout her decadeslong career, according to The New York Times. She retired in 2022 to pursue other activities.
After leaving sports media, Tafoya began speaking more openly about politics in interviews and on social media. She told Fox News that she decided to enter the race out of frustration with what she called a “crisis of leadership.”
“We are suffering a crisis here in Minnesota, and really, it’s a crisis of leadership,” Tafoya said. “We have career politicians who have brought us to this place, and they’re not coming to save us. So, some of us are going to have to step up and clean up the mess ourselves.”
Tafoya’s political activity since retirement
Since retiring from journalism, Tafoya launched “The Michele Tafoya Podcast,” which focuses on political issues. The podcast, which launched in 2022, has streamed hundreds of episodes and has recently turned its focus to Minnesota politics.
In a 2022 Fox News interview, Tafoya shared she felt her “moderate” political views were underrepresented in the political landscape.
“I’ve been waking up every day with a palpable pull at my gut that my side, my view, my middle-ground-kind-of-moderate-viewpoint is not being represented to the rest of the world,” she said.
“So rather than, you know, just banging it out on Twitter or Instagram every day, I thought, I’ve got to do something. I have benefited greatly from the American dream, and I feel like, for the sake of my kids, and because I so love this country, I’ve got to start giving back.”
Although this is her first run for public office, Tafoya has been politically active. After retiring from sports media, she served as co-chair of Republican Kendall Qualls’ campaign for Minnesota governor, according to The New York Times.
In a 2015 Sports Illustrated interview, Tafoya described herself as “a pro-choice conservative” with some libertarian-leaning views.
Does she have a chance?
Minnesota’s political landscape has leaned blue as Republicans have faced a challenging electoral environment in the state. According to The Hill, no Republican has won a statewide race in Minnesota since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty won in 2006 for his second term.
The state has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 2002, The New York Times reported.
Despite this, national Republican groups are optimistic. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has its sights set on Minnesota as a potential expansion state in its effort to gain seats.
“We see real reasons to be optimistic,” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, chair of the committee, said in a Fox News interview late last year. “We know with the right candidate, we will be successful.”
Maeve Coyle, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement that Tafoya “will be plagued by her history of far-right positions that are out of step with Minnesotans,” and argued that “voters will hold her accountable for her support for the Trump administration’s affordability crisis and efforts to gut health care.”