Flag Family News Reporter Chris Larson speaks with Michele Tafoya
ST PAUL, Minn. — Michele Tafoya, a four-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and longtime national voice in American sports, announced today that she is launching a campaign for the United States Senate in Minnesota.
After leaving her job following the 2022 Super Bowl, Tafoya has spent time paying attention.
“I want to see what’s going on around the country and particularly in Minnesota,” she said. “And now with the state really kind of declining and in a crisis of leadership, which I’m sure everyone in your audience knows about, I’ve decided to throw my hat in the ring for the United States Senate.”
Tafoya says her announcement ‘is the beginning of change.’
“Our leadership here in Minnesota has absolutely failed us on so many levels,” she said. “I remember a state that was safe and peaceful and boasted great schools. And lately we’re going backwards. And so, what I want is a return to common sense. I want a return to normalcy.”
Among things she wants to see improvement in are violent crime, which has increased; school test scores, which have declined; and fraud, which has increased.
She said the left has tried to turn Minnesota ‘into a war zone.’
“But honestly, this is not left versus right. This is right versus wrong. We’ve gotta choose between the common sense that built America or this corruption and crazy,” she said. “And we need an outsider with backbone. And that’s why I’m stepping in and running for US Senate.”
She calls some of the leadership’s priorities ‘either cowardly or crazy.’
“We’ve had criminals stealing billions of dollars right from under our nose because, you know, asking the right questions would have been politically incorrect. We use taxpayer money to provide hotel rooms and meals for illegal immigrants while Americans were struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table. And then there’s this obsession and of the insanity of putting boys and men in girls and women’s sports all while ignoring the basics,” she said. “We need to replace these cowards and the craziness with some basic courage and common sense.”
Tafoya also touched on the issues facing law and justice in Minnesota, as President Donald Trump and Governor Tim Walz have sparred over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the state.
“We’ve got a crisis of law and order, and our criminal justice system has turned into a turnstile,” she said. “We have violent crime in Minnesota at historic highs, but incarcerations are on the downward trend. That makes no sense.”
She called out Walz.
“We’ve watched as Tim Walz and his far-left friends have agitated for an environment that is dangerous, not only for law enforcement, but for all the folks in Minnesota,” Tafoya said. “They can pick a political fight with this White House and President Trump. So, we need leaders who are going to enforce our laws, support law enforcement and make Minnesota safe and peaceful like it used to be.”
Tafoya says she’s going to work to lower costs for middle-class families, taxes, and grocery and energy prices.
She’s also going to take a stand and help try to crack down on fraud that’s making headlines in Minnesota.
“There are plenty of levers the federal government can pull and we’re seeing that happen in various departments already,” Tafoya said. “, it’s been the Department of Justice, even now the Department of Education, they’re finding this fraud. They’re helping bring these people to account. So there is no question that a United States Senator can have influence over those decisions, putting pressure to bring light to that fraud and putting pressure on holding those people accountable.”
Tafoya says she’s running to ‘represent each and every Minnesotan.’
“No matter where you live in Minnesota, what happens within our borders affects all of us in some way, shape or form,” she said. “I love this state. I love the out state so much. I want to represent everyone. So this is not just about here in the Twin Cities where I reside, it’s about the entire state. And I think that Minnesota is such a proud state. They love what everyone accomplishes here.”
While Tafoya acknowledges an uphill battle to winning the U.S. Senate seat, she’s going to work hard for the vote.
“I’m going to talk to and earn every single vote, but that is going to be a challenge,” she said. “Minnesota is a big state. We’ve got people of all political stripes. I wouldn’t be getting in if I didn’t think I could win.”
Minnesota DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom called Tafoya “a wealthy Republican activist in a statement.
“Minnesotans want leaders who lower costs and protect health care – not self-interested television personalities looking to turn their support for Donald Trump into a political brand,” Calbom wrote.
