{"id":6391,"date":"2026-08-12T05:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6391"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:37:23","slug":"former-nfl-sideline-reporter-michele-tafoya-scores-victory-in-minnesota-gop-senate-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6391","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya scores victory in Minnesota GOP Senate primary\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former sportscaster Michele Tafoya cruised to victory Tuesday in the Minnesota Republican Senate primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Primary elections 2026 live updates:\u00a0Sen. Amy Klobuchar wins Democratic nomination for governor in Minnesota<\/a><\/p>\n

The four-time Emmy Award-winning sports journalist entered the GOP primary after incumbent Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced she wouldn\u2019t be seeking a second term last February.<\/p>\n

Tafoya led with 51% of the vote, besting former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze (22%) and ex-professional basketball player Royce White (9%) with about a fifth of the ballots counted.<\/p>\n

Tafoya, who roamed NFL sidelines for more than a decade as a reporter for ABC and ESPN \u201cMonday Night Football,\u201d and later NBC\u2019s \u201cSunday Night Football,\u201d campaigned as a political outsider who can flip Smith\u2019s Senate seat and bring \u201ccommon sense\u201d to Washington.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMinnesota is in play,\u201d she wrote on X just hours before polls closed. \u201cWe have a real opportunity to flip this Senate seat and defeat far-left socialist Democrats in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tafoya has been endorsed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).<\/p>\n

President Trump, however, did not give Tafoya his stamp of approval. Minnesota Republicans also opted to endorse Schwarze over her at the party\u2019s convention in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Sen. John Kennedy mocks socialists with snappy new nickname \u2014 as he torches Kamala Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

Tafoya, who has been vocal on social media about political issues for years, campaigned on cracking down on fraud, and supports imposing mandatory minimum prison sentences on convicted fraudsters and deporting illegal migrants that steal taxpayer money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

She also pledged to \u201cfight tooth and nail\u201d against left-wing efforts to abolish ICE; support the SAVE Act in Congress; and \u201cget men out of women\u2019s sports.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tafoya started her career at Minneapolis\u2019 radio station KFAN, covering the Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minneapolis before being hired by CBS in 1994.<\/p>\n

Minnesotans haven\u2019t elected a Republican to represent them in the Senate since 2002.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tafoya will likely face either Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan or Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) in the general election in November.<\/p>\n

Read more AOC fuels split rumors with longtime fianc\u00e9 Riley Roberts as she embarks on public journey to freeze eggs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya won the Minnesota GOP Senate primary, advancing to the general election in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya scores victory in Minnesota GOP Senate primary\u00a0 - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6391\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya scores victory in Minnesota GOP Senate primary\u00a0 - 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