Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is entering Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race, seeking the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.
Tafoya, 61, who spent more than a decade covering NBC’s Sunday Night Football, filed federal paperwork on Tuesday, Jan. 20, then officially kicked off her campaign the following morning with a video posted on social media.
“I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves,” Tafoya wrote on X.
In the campaign video, Tafoya leaned heavily on her years in sports broadcasting, framing the job as training for high-stakes leadership.
“For years, I covered the biggest football games in America,” she said, adding that she “walked the sidelines when the pressure was mounting and the stakes were highest.”
She argued the experience went beyond football. “It taught me about how leadership really works,” Tafoya said. “When leaders are prepared and accountable, teams succeed. When they aren’t, people pay the price.”
Tafoya also took aim at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, saying she sees “politicians selling out honest, hard-working people.”
“As Minnesota’s senator, I will clean up the system, fighting corruption, ending the fraud and protecting your tax dollars,” she said.
She also pledged a tough-on-crime approach, promising to support law enforcement, deport “dangerous criminals,” and “keep female sports for female athletes.”
Tafoya has been increasingly active in Republican politics in recent years. In February 2022, she announced she would co-chair a Minnesota Republican gubernatorial campaign after stepping back from sports broadcasting.
In December 2025, The Washington Examiner reported that Republicans had been encouraging Tafoya to run.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott quickly endorsed her, writing, “Michele is the only candidate with the common-sense leadership Minnesotans are desperately craving, and her message of safety, opportunity, and prosperity would be a welcome addition to our Senate majority.”
The Republican field is shaping up to be crowded. Tafoya is expected to face former NBA player Royce White — who lost to Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024 — along with former Minnesota GOP Chair David Hann and military veterans Adam Schwarze and Tom Weiler.
On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan are running for the seat.
Craig attacked Tafoya after the announcement, writing on X: “Trump’s hand-picked candidate just jumped in the race for US Senate. Minnesota needs a Senator who will stand up and fight for our state — and we know it won’t be MAGA Michele.”
Tafoya worked as an NFL sideline reporter for NBC’s Sunday Night Football from 2011 through 2022. She now hosts a podcast.
