Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is planning to launch a run for Senate in Minnesota, giving Republicans a high-profile recruit as they look to put the state in play next year.
Tafoya filed paperwork on Tuesday establishing a Senate campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission. Three sources familiar with her decision confirmed that Tafoya is running for Senate, and two sources said an official announcement is expected on Wednesday.
While Republicans are looking to expand their four-seat Senate majority next year by targeting states President Donald Trump won in 2024, including Michigan and Georgia, some in the party have been optimistic that Democratic Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement could put Minnesota in play. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are both competing for the Democratic nod.
Tafoya, a longtime reporter who worked for NBC Sports and currently hosts a podcast, had been seriously weighing a Senate run for months and met with the National Republican Senatorial Committee in December, according to one source familiar with the meeting. Last year’s GOP nominee for Senate, former professional basketball player Royce White, is also in the race, along with former state GOP chairman David Hann and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.
Tafoya’s entrance as a well-known reporter and relative political outsider could give her party a boost. A self-described “pro-choice” Republican, Tafoya could also have some bipartisan appeal.
But Republicans have not won a statewide election there since 2006 and they have struggled to recruit candidates who can make the races close.
White, known for controversial comments online, at times using slurs, lost to Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar by 16 points last year even as Trump made some gains in the state. Trump, who has long eyed Minnesota as a potential pickup, lost Minnesota by 4 points last year, a 3-point improvement on his 2020 margin.
But Tafoya’s path forward could be complicated by the state party’s primary process.
The state Republican Party endorses a candidate at the party convention, which often boosts that candidate’s campaign. But others who do not get the endorsement can continue with a primary campaign. White won the state GOP’s endorsement last year, but he still faced a contested primary, winning the Republican nomination with 39% of the vote.
It’s not clear yet if Tafoya will seek the party’s endorsement, or continue with a primary run if she does not win the nod.
Tafoya has been mentioned as a potential candidate in recent years. She entered politics in 2022, co-chairing Republican Kendall Quall’s gubernatorial campaign covering her final Super Bowl. Qualls is running for governor again this year in a crowded GOP primary.
Tafoya told WDAY Radio in February 2025 that she was close to making a decision about a Senate run and had spoken with NRSC Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C. She noted she was considering the impact on her family and questioning how long she would remain in Minnesota.
“I think Minnesota is starving for a moderate Republican who doesn’t tell them that they’re going to ban abortion, but who also is the antithesis of the Tim Walz regime,” Tafoya said at the time when speaking broadly about the race.