Meanwhile, Minnesota electoral politics roll on

This had been rumored for some time. On Wednesday morning, it became official.

Michele Tafoya, the former prominent sports broadcaster known for her sideline reporting on “Sunday Night Football,” has announced she plans to run for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat.

In a video announcing her candidacy Tafoya described herself as a “political outsider and a reformer” who will “clean up the system” by “fighting corruption, ending the fraud and protecting your tax dollars.”

Tafoya jumps into the race nearly a year after she first teased a bid following DFL Sen. Tina Smith’s announcement that she planned to retire. Republicans had struggled to find a top-tier candidate after several prospects decided to pass on running.

Though she enters crowded GOP field, which includes former Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann and controversial former NBA player Royce White, she won rare early backing from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which had worked to recruit her.

With Democrats nationally having a built-in advantage in the second midterm of a GOP presidential administration, the national party likely isn't sweating Minnesota due to a Republican not having won a statewide race since 2006. But that could also work to the Dems' disadvantage since it's been well documented how Minnesota is rife with fraud, corruption and out-of-control crime. Kinda hard to lay that at the feet of Republicans given they haven't held a single statewide office in 15 years. As such, enough voters are willing to be convinced to maybe move to the right this cycle.

The one issue which may dog Tafoya is that of abortion. She has publicly declared that she is pro choice, something which would likely be a nonstarter with the GOP grassroots. However, the fact she is such a big name in addition to being the handpicked candidate of the NRSC, Tafoya should easily have the fundraising edge over all the other Republican hopefuls, meaning she's definitely taking this to the August primary. And if she prevails, what then? Will she tout her pro choice chops in an effort to attract independents and moderate Dems or will she find a way to placate Republican voters by downplaying her viewpoint? Given this is a Federal race, abortion won't at all be an issue given the 2022 US Supreme Court decision declaring it a states rights issue. The only scenario that this becomes a factor is if the Dems one day attain a trifecta (President, House and Senate), nuke the filibuster and decide to codify Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. So the question that needs to be posed is would a Sen. Michele Tafoya vote in the affirmative if that hypothetical came to pass?

I honestly can't recall a Republican U.S. Senate candidate out of Minnesota with this kind of name recognition and fundraising prowess. Obviously Tafoya winning a general election is a big lift, but any resources which cause the Dems to draw away from GOP-held seats they look to flip would go a long way to keeping the upper chamber in Republican hands. 

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