Days before the Super Bowl, legendary sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya announced that she will enter a different arena — the race for the open seat in Minnesota.
This isn’t the first cycle Tafoya has toyed with running for office — but she told the Washington Reporter in an interview shortly after her campaign launched that “a lot of things have lined up, but primarily I looked at this situation and saw a major crisis of leadership.”
“The career politicians who have been running Minnesota got us to this place, and they are not coming to save us,” Tafoya said. The leading contenders on the Democratic side to succeed Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.) are a pair of career politicians: the Smith-backed lieutenant governor of the state, Peggy Flanagan, and Rep. Angie Craig (D., Minn.).
“So,” Tafoya said, “it’s going to be up to the rest of us to clean up the mess. I love this state. I’ve lived here for over 30 years. We’ve raised our family here. This state’s been known for all of the positives: the great public schools, safe neighborhoods, clean cities, but we have slid backwards, and we’ve gotten to a point where violent crime is on the rise, and test scores are down. And that infuriates me.”
Minnesota has been in the news for a host of problems: the state became the epicenter of fraud investigations following bombshell reports about taxpayer dollars flowing to Somali-run “Learing Centers” in the state, for example. Tafoya lays this blame squarely at the feet of politicians, like Gov. Tim Walz (D., Minn.), and said that Minnesotans are yearning for new leadership.
“Our leaders allowed all this fraud to take place,” she said. “These fraudsters stole billions — we don’t even know how many billions of dollars from Minnesotans, and then the far left is coming in and trying to turn Minnesota into this utter chaotic landscape. It’s not really right versus left. This is right versus wrong. I’m a common sense person, and I believe we’ve got to choose: either the common sense that built Minnesota and built America, or this corruption and craziness that we see that is trying to tear us apart. I think Minnesota is Exhibit A on why we need outsiders. We need an outsider with backbone who’s going to take on the politicians, tell the truth, and fight for Minnesotans, and that’s what I’m planning to do as senator.”
Tafoya is aware that Minnesota hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate in decades, but she said that the “unique circumstances” she laid out are reason for hope. “The most unique of them is what a failure Minnesotans have seen from our leaders,” she said. “That really is the perfect storm: fraud, ginning up the chaos on the streets to pick a political fight with Trump over law and order. It’s all of these things that have come together at this moment. And I think Minnesotans are ready to say, ‘let’s be open minded to the other side.’”
Tafoya was quickly endorsed by Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). In her announcement video, Tafoya spoke about the need for “new ideas,” which she told the Reporter look a lot like old ideas.
“It’s hard to believe that new ideas are things like law and order and being a leader and focusing on the middle class,” she said. “It’s how do we get there? We’ve seen politicians do crazy and cowardly things. We watch them put illegal immigrants in hotels and feed them with taxpayer money while average Americans were trying to put food on the table and pay their rent. We’ve seen them let criminals steal billions of dollars from Minnesota because it would have been politically incorrect to ask questions.”
“So,” she said, “a new idea is to ask the tough questions. Ask the right questions. They’re upset over this insanity of putting boys and men in girls’ and women’s sports and ignoring the basics. A new idea is the old idea. Biology matters, so we need to replace the cowards and the craziness with some basic courage and common sense. Law and order is another crisis. The criminal justice system has been turned into a turnstile here. I’ve seen it firsthand. Violent crime at historic highs, incarceration is on the downward trend. That doesn’t make sense. This goes back to Tim Walz agitating for this dangerous environment in which law enforcement is not able to do its job. We need leaders who are going to enforce our laws, support law enforcement and make things safe.”
Tafoya also wants to focus on the middle class during her campaign, which she said is “so important.” And for her, it’s personal. “I’m a working mom,” she said. “I know the balancing act, and we’ve had runaway inflation under Joe Biden, so life has gotten just exceedingly expensive, and the career politicians, the political elite, responded by giving even more money and more power to the bureaucrats, big government, Big Pharma, and the teachers unions. How’s that working out? How’s that working out in health care? How is that working out for education? When spending keeps going up and up and the results get worse and worse? We need new ideas.”
“As senator,” she continued, “I’m just going to fight the fight to lower those costs. We need lower taxes, we need to bring grocery and energy bills down. We need rent and mortgages to be more affordable. We need to continue to keep coming down with these prescription drug prices. And I know this might sound novel to some politicians, but we’ve got to stop the waste, fraud and abuse. It’s robbing taxpayers blind.”
While the winner of this week’s Super Bowl is anyone’s guess, Tafoya demurred when she asked about which team will win the 2027 Super Bowl. “That’s a great question,” she said. “I’ve covered enough of the NFL as you know to know that you cannot make those predictions, because what you think is going to happen never happens, and what you think is never going to happen often does. There are too many variables. I can’t make a decision on that.”
Tafoya’s Senate campaign requires a political turnaround in Minnesota — which she suggested may be easier to do than a remaking of the Minnesota Vikings.
When the Reporter asked her what she would do to turn the Vikings around during the NFL offseason, she replied simply, “we don’t have enough time for that.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with Michele Tafoya, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Michele, you’ve been involved in Minnesota politics for the past several years, and you’ve looked at running for office in the past. Why is this cycle different? What made you want to actually throw your own hat in the ring?
Michele Tafoya:
A lot of things have lined up, but primarily I looked at this situation and saw a major crisis of leadership. The career politicians who have been running Minnesota got us to this place, and they are not coming to save us. So it’s going to be up to the rest of us to clean up the mess. I love this state. I’ve lived here for over 30 years. We’ve raised our family here. This state’s been known for all of the positives: the great public schools, safe neighborhoods, clean cities, but we have slid backwards, and we’ve gotten to a point where violent crime is on the rise, and test scores are down. And that infuriates me. Our leaders allowed all this fraud to take place. These fraudsters stole billions — we don’t even know how many billions of dollars from Minnesotans, and then the far left is coming in and trying to turn Minnesota into this utter chaotic landscape. It’s not really right versus left. This is right versus wrong. I’m a common sense person, and I believe we’ve got to choose: either the common sense that built Minnesota and built America, or this corruption and craziness that we see that is trying to tear us apart. I think Minnesota is Exhibit A on why we need outsiders. We need an outsider with backbone who’s going to take on the politicians, tell the truth, and fight for Minnesotans, and that’s what I’m planning to do as senator.
Washington Reporter:
You’ve been hammering Tim Walz quite a bit since you announced your campaign and in the run up to it. What’s the sense in Minnesota of why he actually announced that he’s not going to run for what would have been a historic third term?
Michele Tafoya:
Because of historic fraud, because of historic failure, and it’s finally gotten home to him that he owns it. This is the crisis of leadership I told you about. His lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is running for Senate, and she was right there with it — overseeing the billions in fraud. And Angie Craig, the other Democratic candidate on the left, she was supposed to be minding the store in Washington, D.C., and she let it go. People can see the writing on the wall. Minnesotans aren’t blind. They’re not stupid. They see what’s going on, and now is the prime time for change.
Washington Reporter:
How does the fact that Minnesota will have an open Senate seat and an open governor’s seat factor into your race? You’re not challenging a Democratic incumbent for this. Does that make this state more fertile ground for Republicans to gain up and down the ticket because of these very unique circumstances you’re now running in?
Michele Tafoya:
These are unique circumstances, you’re right about that. But the most unique of them is that is what a failure Minnesotans have seen from our leaders. That really is the perfect storm: fraud, ginning up the chaos on the streets to pick a political fight with Trump over law and order. It’s all of these things that have come together at this moment. And I think Minnesotans are ready to say, ‘let’s be open minded to the other side.’
Washington Reporter:
How does the anti-ICE rhetoric and actions that we’re seeing across the country and that is happening in your state play out on the campaign trail?
Michele Tafoya:
We had a tragedy here. So that’s not political, that’s just a tragedy, but we have to stop and ask how did we get here? How is it that some people feel like it is their duty to obstruct, harass, and even attack federal law enforcement with frozen water bottles, with rocks, and spit in their faces? And the truth is that Tim Walz and his friends on the far left incited this and fanned the flames. When we start with the open borders during Joe Biden, four years of that, our country was open to millions of people. We know violent criminals are here because they’re being arrested, and then they decide to call it racist and fascist to enforce the laws, and now they talk about ICE like it is an invading force, and they’re urging their followers to resist. So that lack of cooperation combined with their ginning up this chaos is disgusting. It’s dangerous. I don’t believe these career politicians or the media care about Minnesotans. They care about this political showdown with the White House. We need law and order. We need better leadership, period, the end. Minnesota knows that, and that’s why I’m running.
Washington Reporter:
What do you feel about Tim Walz in particular here? He has been comparing ICE to Gestapo agents of Nazi Germany. How does that rhetoric affect the situation that you just laid out that’s happening in Minnesota?
Michele Tafoya:
It leads to this chaos. It leads to people feeling like, ‘my goodness, we’ve got to respond ourselves.’ He’s just made it dangerous; he basically set a fire, and fanned the flames. It’s dangerous. It’s disgusting, and it puts Minnesotans in harm’s way, both our law enforcement and our citizens.
Washington Reporter:
I want to talk about some of the things that you touched on in your announcement video. One of the things you said is that you want new ideas. What are some new ideas that you feel like it’s time for in America and in Minnesota?
Michele Tafoya:
It’s hard to believe that new ideas are things like law and order and being a leader and focusing on the middle class. It’s how do we get there? We’ve seen politicians do crazy and cowardly things. We watch them put illegal immigrants in hotels and feed them with taxpayer money while average Americans were trying to put food on the table and pay their rent. We’ve seen them let criminals steal billions of dollars from Minnesota because it would have been politically incorrect to ask questions. So a new idea is to ask the tough questions. Ask the right questions. They’re upset over this insanity of putting boys and men in girls’ and women’s sports and ignoring the basics. A new idea is the old idea. Biology matters, so we need to replace the cowards and the craziness with some basic courage and common sense. Law and order is another crisis. The criminal justice system has been turned into a turnstile here. I’ve seen it firsthand. Violent crime at historic highs, incarceration is on the downward trend. That doesn’t make sense. This goes back to Tim Walz agitating for this dangerous environment in which law enforcement is not able to do its job. We need leaders who are going to enforce our laws, support law enforcement and make things safe. And let’s get to the middle class. This is so important. I’m a working mom. I know the balancing act, and we’ve had runaway inflation under Joe Biden, so life has gotten just exceedingly expensive, and the career politicians, the political elite, responded by giving even more money and more power to the bureaucrats, big government, Big Pharma, and the teachers unions. How’s that working out? How’s that working out in health care? How is that working out for education? When spending keeps going up and up and the results get worse and worse? We need new ideas. So as senator, I’m just going to fight the fight to lower those costs. We need lower taxes, we need to bring grocery and energy bills down. We need rent and mortgages to be more affordable. We need to continue to keep coming down with these prescription drug prices. And I know this might sound novel to some politicians, but we’ve got to stop the waste, fraud and abuse. It’s robbing taxpayers blind.
Washington Reporter:
Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted in her D.C. apartment by a criminal who was sentenced to 27 months in prison. And yet you’re laying out how Democrats in your state and across the country are soft on crime even when it affects them personally. Do you have a sense of why that is?
Michele Tafoya:
I can’t imagine why they want to protect criminals. So my new idea is how about we don’t do that? How about we hold criminals accountable, put them where they belong, which is behind bars if they’re criminals. I don’t know that calculus. It’s a great question, but the bottom line is, law and order is necessary in a civil society. People want to feel safe. If they don’t feel safe, they don’t go out shopping, they don’t go downtown, they shy away from big events. They want to feel safe; they want to feel safe outside of their communities. And so law enforcement is a big piece of this for me.
Washington Reporter:
I want to look at the issue of men in women’s sports from two standpoints: from your former career as a sports reporter, where you covered men’s sports and women’s sports, and also to your now-current career in electoral politics. What explains the disconnect that we see with so many in the news realm, in even the sports realm, on this issue? And you’re running against two women who are also on the complete opposite side of this from you. How did America get there where people in sports and in media, and in electoral politics are, in essence, on the complete opposite side of you? You’re one of the only sports reporters who probably would be able to say that men cannot get pregnant.
Michele Tafoya:
For the record, men cannot get pregnant. Listen, I can’t explain their position, except that that is part of this woke ideology. It seems to me to be performative. This is an 80-20 issue. I’ve talked to so many dads, and they are horrified by this thought that their girls might get replaced on a roster by a biological boy. It doesn’t make sense. It’s nonsense. It’s insane. And look, we’re going to fight every fight we have to to keep girls’ sports for girls.
Washington Reporter:
Forget this year’s Super Bowl. What is going to be next year’s Super Bowl winner?
Michele Tafoya:
Oh my gosh, no way. Listen, that’s funny. That’s a great question. I’ve covered enough of the NFL as you know to know that you cannot make those predictions, because what you think is going to happen never happens, and what you think is never going to happen often does. There are too many variables. I can’t make a decision on that.
Washington Reporter:
You’re trying to turn around Minnesota politically. How would you turn the Vikings around in the offseason?
Michele Tafoya:
We don’t have enough time for that, I’m afraid.
Washington Reporter:
Michele Tafoya, thanks so much for your time.
