Michele Tafoya, a well-known sportswriter, is reportedly considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota, according to sources close to the situation.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is actively recruiting her to help consolidate Republican candidates as Democrats brace for a competitive primary battle between U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and popular Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Tafoya, age 60, met with officials from the NRSC and the Senate Leadership Fund last week in Washington, D.C., and is likely to announce her decision early next year.
The Senate seat, currently held by Democrat Tina Smith, will be vacant since Smith announced in February that she would not run for reelection.
A California native, Tafoya began her career at Minneapolis sports radio station KFAN before joining CBS Sports in 1994.
She later worked with ABC Sports and ESPN, eventually spending over a decade at NBC as a sideline reporter for “Sunday Night Football.” She is set to depart the network after the 2021-22 NFL season, wrapping up her tenure with Super Bowl LVI between the Rams and Bengals.
Shortly after leaving sports media, Tafoya clarified to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that her exit was voluntary, expressing a feeling that her centrist views were not adequately represented.
In November 2021, on “The View,” Tafoya defended those hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine and raised concerns about her child’s school separating kids based on race into “affinity groups.”
She reflected on her son’s early friendship with a Black boy, noting that they were very close until the school’s practices changed their interactions. “Why are we teaching that the color of your skin matters? What matters to me is the character and values that lie within,” she said.
