Since leaving NBC after more than a decade as the network's top NFL sideline reporter, Michele Tafoya has started to branch out into politics. Now, she is taking the next step by running for office.
Tafoya launched a campaign for an open U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota on Wednesday, marking her first run for public office.
Tafoya has dabbled in politics since leaving NBC, serving as a political commentator and even briefly working for a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate's campaign in 2022. After hinting that she might take aim at elected office, Tafoya is in the race to flip a senate seat in her home state.
Here's what you need to know about Tafoya's senate run and her NFL broadcasting career.
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Michele Tafoya set to run for Minnesota Senate seat
Tafoya announced Wednesday that she is running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, releasing a campaign video a day after officially filing to run as a Republican.
"When I look at Minnesota and Washington today, I see politicians selling out honest, hard-working people," Tafoya said in her announcement video, calling her campaign "bigger than right vs. Left."
For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were the highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works.
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) January 21, 2026
I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves. Pic.twitter.com/vDbHWpAXg9
Tafoya is running for the seat vacated by Sen. Tina Smith, who is retiring. She joins a primary battle that already features former NBA player Royce White, who was the Republican nominee for Minnesota's other U.S. Senate seat in 2024.
On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are battling for the nomination.
Minnesota's primary election is set for Aug. 11, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
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Is Michele Tafoya Republican or Democrat?
Tafoya is running as a Republican. She She has been involved in conservative politics since leaving NBC in 2022 and supported Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, though she has criticized Trump in the past.
No Republican has held a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota since Norm Coleman, who narrowly lost to Al Franken in 2008.
Where is Michele Tafoya from?
Tafoya was born in Manhattan Beach, California and grew up in California, attending Cal Berkeley before heading to USC for graduate school.
She is a longtime Minnesota resident, dating back to the start of her career when she worked as a reporter for a Minneapolis radio station covering the Minnesota Vikings and University of Minnesota basketball. She and husband Mark Vandersall still live in Minnesota and have two children.
Michele Tafoya broadcast career
Tafoya is best known as an NFL sideline reporter, as she spent 11 seasons as NBC's "Sunday Night Football" sideline reporter from 2011-21, also helping out with Olympic coverage for the network.
Prior to NBC, Tafoya served as ESPN's top NFL sideline reporter and, until 2008, worked as a sideline reporter for NBA games as well.
Tafoya's other ventures include roles as a radio host and sideline reporter for local Minnesota stations and networks, as well as a five-year stint as a reporter and host for CBS Sports in the 1990s. She hasn't formally worked in sports since leaving NBC at the end of the 2021 NFL season.