Former sports reporter Michele Tafoya files to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota

Former television sports reporter Michele Tafoya has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota as a Republican, according to federal filings submitted Tuesday afternoon. She released a campaign video announcing she's jumping into the race Wednesday morning.

Tafoya is seeking the open seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, as Republicans target a pickup opportunity in a state the GOP has not won statewide since 2006, when then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected. A Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota since Norm Coleman in 2002.

"I think Minnesota is in a crisis," Tafoya told CBS Minnesota station WCCO in an exclusive interview. "I think we have a crisis in leadership and I think the career politicians that got us here are not going to get us out."

"In terms of policy, we've got a middle-class crisis," Tafoya said. "We've got families struggling to pay rent, to pay mortgages, to put groceries on the table. Energy costs need to come down. Schools need to do better."

Asked whether she supports President Trump's economic policies despite those struggles, Tafoya pointed to the lowering of gas prices and recent reports of rising GDP.

"It's only been a year, so let's see what happens here early 2026."

CBS News can confirm Tafoya met last week with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to Republican sources familiar with the meeting. The Senate GOP's campaign arm has been recruiting Tafoya since Smith announced she would not seek reelection, as Republicans look to defend their current 53–47 majority in the upper chamber during this year's midterm elections. Tafoya's meeting with the NRSC was first reported by Fox News.

Tafoya is entering a packed Republican primary that features former NBA player Royce White, the party's unsuccessful Senate nominee in 2024, along with former Minnesota GOP chair David Hann, U.S. Navy veteran Tom Weiler, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.

On the Democratic side, a competitive primary is also taking shape between progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and centrist Democratic Rep. Angie Craig. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Craig said she believes Congress should impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem following the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in south Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month.

Thousands of federal agents remain in the Twin Cities as part of a broader crackdown on immigration and an escalating rhetorical and judicial fight between the Trump administration and local officials like Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

"What I wouldn't do is stir up this hatred for law enforcement," Tafoya asserted. "No one has worked to calm the issue and say, 'Everyone let's take a breath. Everybody settle down. If you want to peacefully protest, that's OK.' What I've seen is the governor and the mayor stir people up and create this environment where they feel they should throw their cars and their bodies between law enforcement and their mission. That's not how you'll get peace and normalcy here."

In total, roughly 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents have been dispatched to the Twin Cities, a force that is nearly five times the size of the Minneapolis police department, which employs about 600 officers.

Tafoya told WCCO, "I want public safety and I back law enforcement. So I would really like it if Minnesota's law enforcement could work with federal law enforcement to make this as safe and as peaceful for everyone. That keeps the officers safe and that keeps the public safe."

Tafoya spent about a decade as a sideline reporter for NBC Sports' "NBC Sunday Night Football" before ending her tenure in 2021. She also had stints during her long sports broadcasting career with ABC Sports, ESPN and CBS Sports. In 2022, she served as co-chair for Kendall Qualls, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who is running again in this year's governor's race.

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