Former NFL Sideline Reporter Michele Tafoya Announces She's Running for Senate as a Republican
Former sports commentator Michele Tafoya announced Tuesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate
“For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were the highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works,” Tafoya wrote in a post on X.
“I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves.”
Tafoya worked as a sports commentator for CBS, ABC, ESPN, and NBC.
She was the sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football from 2011 to 2022.
For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were the highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works.
I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves. pic.twitter.com/vDbHWpAXg9
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) January 21, 2026
“We are suffering a crisis here in Minnesota, and really, it’s a crisis of leadership. We have career politicians who have brought us to this place, and they’re not coming to save us. So, some of us are going to have to step up and clean up the mess ourselves,” Tafoya told Fox News.
“We’ve got to decide not between right versus left, but right versus wrong, and we’ve got to decide, are we going to build up with the common sense that made this country great, or are we going to tear us apart with the corruption and the crazy that we’re seeing? I think people know the answer to that, and that’s why I’m running.”
Calling the shooting of Renee Good “tragic,” Tafoya said the critical issue is “How did we get to this place? How did this environment get created where people feel it’s their duty to go put their cars or their bodies in front of federal law enforcement?”
The answer, she said, comes from Democratic leadership and tactics.
“And I would contend that Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis have ginned this up.”
Walz and Frey “are fanning the flames. We’ve got to have a change in leadership. We’ve got to have people who are willing to assuage the situation, to calm it down, not to stir it up, and get rid of the hate for law enforcement,” she said.
She also said she was revolted by the storming of a church by anti-ICE protesters.
“I think that incident in the church was horrific, awful, disgusting,” Tafoya argued. “To see that picture of that small child scared being hugged by a parent because in a place of worship, these people thought they were safe, and then they learned otherwise.”
Tafoya said the burgeoning fraud scandal in the state “is epic, and it’s huge, and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it.”
“This fraud is massive. We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to ask hard questions, get to the facts, make it stop, hold people accountable, and that’s why I’m running,” she said.
“I think if Minnesotans aren’t angry already, they need to look at their pay stubs, look at how much gets taken out in taxes, and ask themselves, what did that get me? Did that get me anything? Did that fill a pothole, or did I buy someone a Rolex?”
“I mean, that’s what, really what we’re talking about here.”
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota has announced earlier she would not seek another term, according to CNN.
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