Jan. 21 (UPI) — Michele Tafoya, a former NFL reporter, launched her campaign as a Republican for Senate representing Minnesota Wednesday to replace the retiring Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat.
“For years, I covered the biggest football games in America. I walked the sidelines when the pressure was mounting and the stakes were the highest. That job taught me about more than football,” Tafoya said in an ad posted on X.
“It taught me about how leadership really works. When leaders are prepared and accountable teams succeed,” she said. “When they aren’t, people pay the price.”
Tafoya was a Sunday Night Football sideline reporter for NBC until 2022. She filed paperwork on Tuesday to run for the seat.
Smith announced her retirement Jan. 13. She held the office since 2018, replacing Sen. Al Franken.
In her video announcing her candidacy, Tafoya talked about the state’s fraud scandal, the cost of living and transgender women playing in women’s sports.
“It’s time for a political outsider and a reformer with a real plan for working families. I’ll ask the tough questions and demand honest answers,” she said in her ad.
The Republican party has not won statewide in Minnesota since 2006, and a Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota since 2002.
Democrats running in the primary for that seat are centrist Rep. Angie Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
“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.”
“Voters will hold her accountable for her support for the Trump administration’s affordability crisis and efforts to gut health care,” Maeve Coyle, spokesperson for Senate Democrats, said in a statement, The Hill reported.
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