Why Republicans are excited about Michele Tafoya in Minnesota Senate race
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Michele Tafoya. Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and NRSC chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) scored big today as former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya launched her Senate bid in Minnesota.
Why it matters: The race is rated "likely Democrat" by Cook Political Report. But Senate GOP leaders like their chances with a star recruit like Tafoya, Minnesota's ongoing fraud scandal and a messy Democratic primary.
- "Indiana University won its first national championship [in football] in school history. If it can happen there, it can happen here," Tafoya told Axios about her chances.
Between the lines: Tafoya is pitching herself as a straight-talking outsider as she tries to flip a seat in a battleground state that has become ground zero for fraught debates over fraud and immigration.
- She called herself a "pro-choice Republican. Period," a position that could ruffle some feathers in her party.
- She argued the Senate "isn't going to be passing abortion laws one way or the other" with the Supreme Court leaving it to states, and senators should focus on other issues like housing prices, border security and fraud.
The intrigue: In 2022, Tafoya publicly urged then-former President Trump not to run for president again.
- Tafoya now hopes to get Trump's endorsement, and she's been communicating with White House staff, she told Axios in an interview.
Zoom in: Tafoya said the fatal shooting of Renee Good "should never have happened," but blamed Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for fanning the flames of angry protesters.
- "[T]hey call it racist and fascist to enforce federal law, and now they treat ICE like it's an invading force," she said.
- When asked about evidence of ICE aggression, she said, "There's a lot of video out there, and I realize that, and we need to see the totality of the circumstances for me to comment on all of it."
The bottom line: Democratic candidates Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have been locked in a heated primary fight.
- "I'm going to let those two fight it out, and I'll just have my popcorn ready," Tafoya said of the race.
