Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya has filed paperwork to launch a U.S. Senate bid as a Republican for the seat currently held by Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). Smith announced last year that she would not seek re-election. According to NBC News, three sources familiar with Tafoya’s decision confirmed her Senate run. An official announcement is expected on Wednesday. Former sports reporter Michele Tafoya has filed FEC paperwork to run as a Republican for US Senate in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/DdIF2IiVbT — InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) January 20, 2026 NBC News shared further: While Republicans are looking to expand their four-seat Senate majority next year by targeting states Donald Trump won in 2024, including Michigan and Georgia, some in the party have been optimistic that Democratic Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement could put Minnesota in play. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are both competing for the Democratic nod. Tafoya, a longtime reporter who worked for NBC Sports and currently hosts a podcast, had been seriously weighing a Senate run for months and met with the National Republican Senatorial Committee in December, according to a source familiar with the meeting. Last year’s GOP nominee for the Senate, former professional basketball player Royce White, is also in the race, along with former state GOP chairman David Hann and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze. Tafoya’s entering as a well-known reporter and relative political outsider could give her party a boost. A self-described “pro-choice” Republican, she could also have some bipartisan appeal. But Republicans have not won a statewide election there since 2006, and they have struggled to recruit candidates who can make the races close. “Here comes the Fox News UniParty to rally the right in Minnesota. We LOVE the UniParty in Minnesota. This is how Minnesota became the h***hole it is now. Michele Tafoya, milquetoast moderate, John Thune and Steve Daines type. Same donors, same verticals, same social media influencer supporters,” White commented. “Watch the people who come out to support her, it will tell you all you need to know,” he continued. Here comes the Fox News UniParty to rally the right in Minnesota. We LOVE the UniParty in Minnesota. This is how Minnesota became the hellhole it is now. Michele Tafoya, milquetoast moderate, John Thune and Steve Daines type. Same donors, same verticals, same social media… https://t.co/WT6lAbfCrg — Royce White (@Highway_30) January 21, 2026 CNN has more: She has been critical of Minnesota leaders who have objected to the immigration crackdown and ripped dozens of protesters who interrupted a Sunday church service because a pastor there appeared to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. “In Minnesota, law enforcement has been demonized for years,” Tafoya posted on X recently, responding to a video from Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is running in the Democratic primary for Senate against Rep. Angie Craig. “We are short on officers. Morale has plummeted. Career criminals are released to offend again. And radical leftists care more about them than they do about honest Minnesotans who simply want to see the chaos end.”