Michele Tafoya

Michele Tafoya and her husband, financial analyst Mark Vandersall, live in Edina and have two children.¹ Her move to Minnesota in the 1990s began with reporting on the Vikings and Timberwolves and work at the Twin Cities sports radio station KFAN.²

That radio career led to national television work, including NBC's Sunday Night Football from 2011 to 2022.² She covered her fifth Super Bowl at Super Bowl LVI, her final NBC football assignment.³ She also earned an MBA from the University of Southern California.⁴

Her broadcasting awards include Sports Emmys for reporting and two Gracie Awards.⁵ After leaving football, she moved into political commentary and hosted a podcast before entering the Senate race.² In an August interview after winning the Republican nomination, she identified agriculture and foreign relations as areas where she wanted to serve in the Senate.⁶

Tafoya's platform emphasizes combating government fraud, reducing federal regulations, expanding domestic energy production and stricter immigration enforcement.⁴ She supports proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration and opposes immigration amnesty.⁴ On foreign policy, she says Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon while arguing against a protracted American ground war.⁶ She faces Democrat Peggy Flanagan on November 3, seeking to move the seat into Republican hands after Senator Tina Smith's retirement.⁴