Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya loses to Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota race for U.S. Senator
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya speaks during a campaign event with local mothers on Oct. 27 in White Bear Lake, Minn. Credit: AP/Ellen Schmidt
Michele Tafoya, the former sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football on NBC, made the foray from sports media into politics in 2022.
She was on the Election Day ballot for the first time this year as the Republican candidate in the Minnesota Senate race, but she ultimately fell short.
Democratic nominee Peggy Flanagan defeated Tafoya by a significant margin. Flanagan will replace Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who announced in 2025 that she would not seek a second full term.
According to the Associated Press, Flanagan – who has served as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota since 2019 – has received 53.7% of the votes (1,520,872) and Tafoya has received 43.6% (1,233,468) with 99% of the votes counted.
Tafoya conceded to Flanagan on the night of the election.
“I just got off the phone with Lt. Gov. Flanagan, congratulated her on a spirited race, a hard-fought race,” said Tafoya, according to a video posted to X by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin early Wednesday morning.
Tafoya, 61, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning sports journalist. She was on Sunday Night Football from 2011-22, and she previously worked for CBS, ABC and ESPN.
She was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who reportedly said Monday: “You have to vote for Michele Tafoya, who's a very respected person.”
The intersection of sports – specifically New York sports – and politics has been a theme of this election.
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Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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