Former sports reporter Michele Tafoya files to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota

Former television sports reporter Michele Tafoya has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota as a Republican, according to federal filings submitted Tuesday afternoon.

Tafoya is seeking the open seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, as Republicans target a pickup opportunity in a state the GOP has not won statewide since 2006, when then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty was reelected.

A Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota since Norm Coleman in 2002.

CBS News can confirm Tafoya met last week with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to Republican sources familiar with the meeting. The Senate GOP’s campaign arm has been recruiting Tafoya since Smith announced she would not seek reelection, as Republicans look to defend their current 53–47 majority in the upper chamber during this year’s midterm elections. Tafoya’s meeting with the NRSC was first reported by Fox News.

Tafoya is entering a packed Republican primary that features former NBA player Royce White, the party’s unsuccessful Senate nominee in 2024, along with former Minnesota GOP chair David Hann, U.S. Navy veteran Tom Weiler, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.

On the Democratic side, a competitive primary is also taking shape between progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and centrist Democratic Rep. Angie Craig. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Craig that she believes Congress should impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem following the shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in south Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month.

Tafoya spent about a decade as a sideline reporter for NBC Sports’ “NBC Sunday Night Football” before ending her tenure in 2021. She also had stints during her long sports broadcasting career with ABC Sports, ESPN and CBS Sports. In 2022, she served as co-chair for Kendall Qualls, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who is running again in this year’s governor’s race.