Once a Super Bowl sideline star, Tafoya now at the center of GOP’s bold play for Minnesota Senate seat

The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is eyeing blue-leaning Minnesota as he aims to not only defend but expand the GOP's current 53-47 Senate majority in next year's midterms — and the party is gearing up for a bold play with help from a former sports broadcaster.

"We're excited about expanding our map, and Minnesota is one of the target states that we're looking at," NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott highlighted in a Fox News Digital interview this week.

Scott's comments come as former professional football sideline reporter turned political activist and commentator Michele Tafoya inches closer to launching a 2026 Republican Senate campaign.

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It's been nearly a quarter-century since Republicans last won a Senate election in Minnesota. You've got to go back to then-GOP Sen. Norm Coleman’s 2002 re-election.

But President Donald Trump narrowed the margins in the state last year, losing Minnesota by less than four-and-a-half points in his White House re-election.

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"We see real reasons to be optimistic. President Trump was very close in Minnesota. It's a four-point race. We know with the right candidate, we will be successful," Scott emphasized.

Tafoya might be that candidate. She met last week with the NRSC, which has been recruiting her to jump into the race, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital.

And as first reported by OutKick, Tafoya is expected to make a final decision early next year on whether to launch a Senate campaign.

Apparently pointing to Tafoya, Scott suggested Republicans are likely to land "a strong candidate in the race," and teased "wait and see" for "better news."

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 Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

Since then, Tafoya has become a vocal critic of Walz and far-left Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and has slammed both of them over Minnesota’s ongoing fraud scandal.

"Dear @Tim_Walz — please deal with the horrendous fraud you allowed in Minnesota before anything else. Please. Our money was stolen," Tafoya wrote last week in a social media post.

If she announces her candidacy, Tafoya would join 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; and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze.

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 and the party's establishment, in the race for the Democrats' nomination.

Three top nonpartisan political handicappers, the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball, currently each rate the race in Minnesota as "Likely" Democrat.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for a response to Scott's comments, but hadn't received a reply as of the time this story was posted.