Michele Tafoya, who spent decades working in sports broadcasting, most notably as a sideline reporter for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, filed papers Tuesday to run for the United States Senate in Minnesota as a member of the Republican Party.
According to CNN’s David Wright, Tafoya will formally launch her bid on Wednesday morning.
The 61-year-old would be running for the spot created by Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who announced her retirement last year.
Tafoya spent time in Minnesota early in her broadcasting career, working as a host and reporter for KFAN-AM in Minneapolis, primarily covering the Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minnesota women’s basketball.
Tafoya left NBC in 2022 and joined Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls’s campaign as co-chair the next day, confirming a career shift into politics that had been signaled for some time beforehand. While Qualls’ campaign stalled in the primary, Tafoya quickly became part of the conservative media pipeline, launching her own podcast and becoming a regular in culture-war commentary.
Rumors and reports of Tafoya running for Senate started bubbling up last year and reached a fever-pitch in recent months, as Minnesota has become a hotbed of national focus due to ICE harassment and protests, the killing of Renee Nicole Good, and purported fraud schemes involving daycares.
With Democratic Governor Tim Walz dropping his reelection campaign and Senator Amy Klobuchar considering a run for that position, the political future of Minnesota will be a major story in the coming years. Michele Tafoya hopes the ongoing controversies and a statewide lean towards Donald Trump in the last election will help her be part of that story.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.