Michele Tafoya had NBC attached to her name for 11 years, and now, the former NFL reporter is one step closer to attaching \u201c(R-Minn.)\u201d to her name.<\/p>\n
Tafoya has been declared the winner of Minnesota\u2019s Republican Senate primary, per NBC News<\/a>, with a sizable victory over Adam Schwarze and Royce White. (Yes,\u00a0that\u00a0Royce White<\/a>.) Jason Garrett must be thrilled<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Minnesota!\u201d the four-time Sports Emmy winner posted on X<\/a> (formerly Twitter). \u201cI am honored to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Tonight\u2019s results show Minnesotans are ready for a new direction. Together, we will bring common sense back to Washington, fight fraud, hold those responsible accountable, and win in November.\u201d<\/p>\n Thank you, Minnesota! I am honored to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s results show Minnesotans are ready for a new direction. Together, we will bring common sense back to Washington, fight fraud, hold those responsible accountable, and win in November.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/GXSFM38e9c<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) August 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Tafoya also posted an official press release, in which she\u2019s quoted as saying the following:<\/p>\n \u201cMinnesota is going 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction after years of single-party rule. They\u2019ve turned our state into a national embarrassment. I love this state. My husband and I fell in love here, raised our family here, and built our lives here. I will not sit by and let the state we call home become a laughing stock.<\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about red versus blue. It\u2019s common sense versus crazy. We will not reelect politicians who let criminals steal billions and treat accountability as optional. We deserve better, and it\u2019s time we demand better.\u201d<\/p>\n Tafoya filed papers<\/a> to run for the United States Senate in January, and she leaned heavily into her football past in her first campaign video<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four years ago, Tafoya departed NBC, where she was best known for roaming the Sunday Night Football sidelines, following Super Bowl LVI.<\/p>\n \u201cI got to a point in my life where I wanted to try other things, and there are some things that are really important to me,\u201d Tafoya told Richard Deitsch<\/a> at the time. \u201cThis is not to say that sports isn\u2019t an important field, that my job isn\u2019t an important job. But in my position, I was not as free to be as vocal about world events that I\u2019m concerned about.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not because I was told to shut up. I want to be very clear about that. But look, if you\u2019re on a show like Sunday Night Football, which is the No. 1 show in prime time for 11 straight years, unprecedented, the last thing they want to do is invite controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n Immediately upon leaving her sports broadcasting career behind, Tafoya launched headfirst<\/a> into controversial, off-the-wall commentary<\/a> and hasn\u2019t looked back. Who could forget this now-viral June 2022 interview on\u00a0The Dan Le Batard Show<\/a>?<\/p>\n Tafoya will face Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in November. Flanagan defeated Rep. Angie Craig in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, according to NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t