Former NFL sideline star poised to shake up crowded GOP field in high-stakes Senate race

Former professional football sideline reporter turned political activist and commentator Michele Tafoya is expected to make a final decision early next year on whether she’ll launch a Republican run for the Senate in the 2026 race for a Democrat-held open seat in Minnesota, GOP sources confirm to Fox News Digital.

And Tafoya met last week with members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, which has been recruiting her to launch a campaign, sources also confirmed. The news was first reported by Fox News’ “OutKick.”

Republicans are eyeing the seat, held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, in next year’s midterm elections when the GOP hopes to not only defend but possibly expand their current 53-47 majority in the chamber.

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If she announces her candidacy, Tafoya would join a crowded GOP Senate primary field that already includes 2024 Senate nominee Royce White, a former NBA basketball player; retired U.S. Navy officer Tom Weiler, a 2022 GOP congressional nominee; and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.

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Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flannagan, a progressive, is facing off against more moderate Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, who appears to have the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in the race for their party’s nomination.

Tafoya, a longtime NFL sideline reporter and announcer, gave up her career at NBC Sports in 2022 as she became more politically active, saying at the time that she wanted to pursue other opportunities. She served as co-chair of 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Kendall Qualls’ unsuccessful campaign against Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

Since then, Tafoya has become a vocal critic of Walz and far-left Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and has slammed both of them over Minnesota’s ongoing fraud scandal.

“Dear @Tim_Walz — please deal with the horrendous fraud you allowed in Minnesota before anything else. Please. Our money was stolen,” Tafoya wrote last week in a social media post.

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Republicans are hoping to break their nearly quarter-century-long losing streak in Senate elections in Minnesota. Then-GOP Sen. Norm Coleman’s 2002 re-election was the last Senate election victory by a Republican in the blue-leaning state.