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EXCLUSIVE – MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – Saying that she wants to bring “sanity” and “normalcy” back to her home state of Minnesota, former longtime TV sports reporter turned political activist and conservative commentator Michele Tafoya on Wednesday formally launched a campaign for the Senate in a bid to flip a Democrat-held open seat.
“We are suffering a crisis here in Minnesota, and really, it’s a crisis of leadership. We have career politicians who have brought us to this place, and they’re not coming to save us. So, some of us are going to have to step up and clean up the mess ourselves,” Tafoya said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, as she explained why she is running in the blue-leaning state.
Tafoya is bidding to win the seat currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, which national Republicans are eyeing as they aim to not only defend but expand their current 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.
The announcement by Tafoya came as Minnesota is ground zero in the national battle over President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, with a massive deployment of agents by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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The arrest of thousands of migrants and the fatal shooting by an ICE agent of Renee Good, a Minnesota woman demonstrating against the immigration crackdown, has fueled anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis and across the country.
And Minnesota is also reeling from a sweeping fraud scandal that at the beginning of the month forced Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee, to drop his bid for re-election.
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“We’ve got to decide not between right versus left, but right versus wrong, and we’ve got to decide, are we going to build up with the common sense that made this country great, or are we going to tear us apart with the corruption and the crazy that we’re seeing?” Tafoya emphasized. “I think people know the answer to that, and that’s why I’m running.”
Tafoya called the shooting of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, “absolutely tragic.”
“My heart sincerely goes out to her family and all of those who loved her. It should not have happened,” Tafoya said.
But Tafoya added, “How did we get to this place? How did this environment get created where people feel it’s their duty to go put their cars or their bodies in front of federal law enforcement? And I would contend that Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis have ginned this up.”
And she charged that Walz and Frey “are fanning the flames. We’ve got to have a change in leadership. We’ve got to have people who are willing to assuage the situation, to calm it down, not to stir it up, and get rid of the hate for law enforcement.”
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Tafoya spoke as the Justice Department sent subpoenas to Walz, Frey and other state leaders, in what sources told Fox News was an escalation of the federal investigation into whether state officials conspired to impede law enforcement amid the immigration operations.
Walz, in a statement, called the Justice Department investigation “a partisan distraction,” and that his “focus has always been protecting the people of this state.”
“Minnesota will not be intimidated into silence and neither will I,” the governor added.
Frey has also sharply criticized the Trump administration and accused the Justice Department of misusing its power.
The Justice Department said they are also investigating an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a service on Sunday at a Minnesota church where one of the pastors is an ICE acting field director in the St. Paul office.
“I think that incident in the church was horrific, awful, disgusting,” Tafoya argued. “To see that picture of that small child scared being hugged by a parent because in a place of worship, these people thought they were safe, and then they learned otherwise.”
And she argued that the ongoing demonstrations are “making the whole environment not only dangerous for law enforcement, but for citizens.”
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Turning to Minnesota’s other crisis, Tafoya said, “this fraud scandal is epic, and it’s huge, and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it.”
More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But prosecutors say it could total as much as $9 billion.
Some of the dozens who have already pleaded guilty in the case used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and international vacations, according to prosecutors, with some of the funds also sent overseas and potentially into the hands of Islamic terrorists.
“I think if Minnesotans aren’t angry already, they need to look at their pay stubs, look at how much gets taken out in taxes, and ask themselves, what did that get me? Did that get me anything? Did that fill a pothole, or did I buy someone a Rolex?” Tafoya said. “I mean, that’s what, really what we’re talking about here.”
“This fraud is massive. We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to ask hard questions, get to the facts, make it stop, hold people accountable, and that’s why I’m running,” she added.
Tafoya grabbed national attention when she met last month with members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, which had been recruiting her to launch a campaign.
Republicans are hoping to break their nearly quarter-century-long losing streak in Senate elections in Minnesota.
Asked how she could break the losing streak, Tafoya told Fox News Digital, “I think people are really hungry for that change, and I think that’s what I represent. We’re going to go out, and we’re going to fight for every vote, every Republican vote. We’re going to fight for Democrat votes, and we’re going to certainly fight for the independents.”
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Tafoya joins 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; former state Senator David Hann and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.
Minnesota’s primary isn’t until August, and Trump has remained neutral to date in the race.
Tafoya said she “would be honored to have the endorsement of the President, for sure, but this is going to take me winning over Minnesotans, first and foremost.”
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 Walz.
Pointing to her successful career in TV sports, Tafoya said, “I gave that all up because I love this country, and I’m concerned about it, and it’s a country that I’m leaving to my two kids, and I felt that it was more important for me to be involved somehow in making this place better.”
“I certainly plan to let people know that my intentions are true, that I’m doing this for love of country and love of Minnesota,” Tafoya added. “I’m grateful for the career that I had, but this feels like a sense of duty to me. I just can’t turn my back on this state.”
And the first-time candidate said, “I’m jumping in with both feet, and I’m ready to go.”
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