Former NFL Reporter Michele Tafoya Enters Minnesota Senate Race

By Lynden Blake
JAN 21, 2026 • 3 min read
"I've raised my family here and I love this place, and we are at a crisis moment in Minnesota."
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Credit: Roy Rochlin/Ethan Miller via Getty Images
Michele Tafoya, a longtime NFL sideline reporter turned political activist, is running for Senate in Minnesota, telling The Daily Wire her home state is at a “crisis moment.”

“I’ve raised my family here and I love this place, and we are at a crisis moment in Minnesota, a crisis of leadership,” Tafoya said in an interview ahead of Wednesday’s launch. “These career politicians that have brought us to this place show no inclination of getting us out of it.”

Tafoya spent nearly four decades working in sports, most notably as the sideline reporter for Monday Night Football on ABC and Sunday Night Football on NBC. After she stepped away from NBC in 2022, Tafoya became a regular voice in the political sphere, launching a podcast where she discusses the issues of the day.

Now, Tafoya is stepping further into the political fray with a bid to replace retiring Democrat Senator Tina Smith. Minnesota, which has not had a Republican senator in 20 years, has become a political flashpoint following allegations of widespread fraud that occurred under Democrat Governor Tim Walz, and the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Hours before Tafoya officially launched her campaign, Vice President JD Vance announced that he would travel to Minneapolis to hold a roundtable on the ongoing fallout from Good’s death. The tense political climate and prospect of a formidable Democrat opponent — Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have both entered the race — pose a challenge for any Republican candidate. Tafoya says she’s ready.

“I have a willingness and a spine to do the hard work and really fight for all Minnesotans, and that’s what I will do in the Senate,” she said. “I bring new ideas to the mix and ask the tough questions, particularly about this fraud. We have to hold people accountable for this. This can’t just slip by anymore. This is right versus wrong, and we’re either going to choose the common sense that built this country or we’re going to choose corruption and craziness.”

Tafoya has been critical of Walz amid the fraud scandal, and has also slammed Minnesota Democrats for adopting soft-on-crime policies.

“We have failed leadership that has led us to the chaos that we’re seeing. It has led us to the fraud and the circumstances in which we find ourselves,” Tafoya said. “We have a crisis of law enforcement. The local law enforcement here are not allowed to work with federal law enforcement, and that has resulted in some absolutely disastrous results.”

Tafoya told The Daily Wire she’s trading the gridiron for the GOP because she wants to see the Minnesota middle class thrive again.

“People are really struggling to make ends meet and we’ve had some good signs, like gasoline is at a five-year low and GDP is high, but
healthcare is a mess and getting a college education costs a fortune,” Tafoya said. “We’ve got rent and mortgage that is too high, and these things need to be corrected.”

“We’ve got fourth- and fifth-generation Minnesotans who love it here, who believe in this state,” she adds. “They don’t want to leave.”

Tafoya is proud of her political outsider status, but enters the race with a major ally in her corner: the National Republican Senatorial Committee for her campaign, led by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, has already endorsed her. That endorsement could help her emerge victorious from an already-crowded Republican field that includes former NBA player Royce White, former state Republican Party chair David Hann, and others.

Despite the challenges, Tafoya says she’s ready to fight — and win.

“I’m going to have to reach every single Republican in Minnesota,” Tafoya says. “I’m going to have to reach Democrats as well and find people who are willing to cross the aisle.”

“We have a lot of independents here in Minnesota. Right now it’s about reaching out for those votes and working really hard for those votes.”