Michele Tafoya
Michele Tafoya is an American sports journalist and broadcaster who covered the NFLNFLThe NFL (National Football League) is a U.S. professional American football league of 32 clubs. Founded in 1920 as the APFA and renamed in 1922, it is organized into the AFC and NFC, with the season culminating in the Super Bowl.Open the full entry and other sports for CBSCBSCBS is an American commercial broadcast television network. It was founded in 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, and grew from a radio network into a television network under William S. Paley. With ABC and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it has been owned in turn by Westinghouse, Viacom, ViacomCBS and Paramount Global, has been owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation since 2025, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry Sports, ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry, ESPN and NBCNBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry, working for many years as a football sideline reporter. She was the Republican nominee in Minnesota’s 2026 U.S. Senate election and lost the November 3 general election to Democrat Peggy FlanaganPeggy FlanaganPeggy Flanagan is a Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) politician and member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe who has served as lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019 and previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. On November 3, 2026, she was elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota, becoming the first Native American woman elected to the Senate.Open the full entry.
Contents11 sections
Key facts
Education
Tafoya graduated with honors in mass communications from the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is a campus of the University of California system; the University of California was founded in 1868 through a merger of two institutions and moved to Berkeley, California, in 1873.Open the full entry, and earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California (USC) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California, planned by a group led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney and opened to students in 1880.Open the full entry.[1]
Early Career in Minneapolis Sports Media
Early in her career Tafoya was a host and Minnesota VikingsMinnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are an NFL professional American football team awarded a franchise in 1960 and beginning play in 1961. An NFC North club, they won the 1969-season NFL championship and have appeared in four Super Bowls. A Wilf family-led ownership group owns the team, Kevin O’Connell is head coach, and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is its home.Open the full entry sideline reporter for KFAN-AM in Minneapolis, and a Minnesota TimberwolvesMinnesota TimberwolvesThe Minnesota Timberwolves are an American NBA basketball team whose home arena is Target Center in Minneapolis.Open the full entry host and sideline reporter for Midwest Sports Channel.[1]
1994–2000CBS Sports and WCCO-TV
From 1994 to 2000 Tafoya was a game reporter and studio host for CBS Sports, covering the NFL, college football and college basketball, hosting the NCAA Tournament selection show and working on coverage of the Goodwill Games, the U.S. Open and late-night Winter Olympics programs. From 1995 to 1998 she was a sports anchor and reporter at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, and from 1997 to 1999 she was a WNBA commentator for Lifetime.[1]
2004–2008ABC and ESPN
From 2004 to 2005 Tafoya was a sideline reporter for ABC Sports’ Monday Night Football, and she was ABC’s sideline reporter for Super Bowl XL; in 2006 she joined Monday Night Football at ESPN, and in the fall of 2008 she stepped down from her role as an ESPN NBANBAThe National Basketball Association (NBA) is a North American professional basketball league with 30 teams.Open the full entry reporter.[1]
2011–2022NBC’s Sunday Night Football
January 2026Senate Candidacy
Tafoya has long been active in Minnesota Republican politics. In January 2026, after Democratic Senator Tina Smith announced her retirement, she launched a campaign for the Republican nomination in a video posted on social media, saying, “For years, I covered the biggest football games in America.”[2]
August 11, 2026Republican Primary
In the August 11, 2026, Republican primary Tafoya won the nomination over former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze, who had the state GOP convention endorsement, former basketball player Royce White and others; she had the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and several senators. She said she was “running to call balls and strikes.”[3]
November 3, 2026General Election
In the November 3 general election, the Associated Press projected that Democrat Peggy Flanagan had defeated Tafoya, and CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news organization of the U.S. CBS system, part of Paramount, providing news coverage through television, the web and streaming. Its history extends from radio newsgathering to television and digital platforms; its signature programs include CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, and CBS News 24/7 is its streaming news service.Open the full entry projected the same result.[4][5]
Radio Show and Podcast
Awards
Tafoya is a multiple Emmy Award winner and received two Gracie Awards for “Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality,” one for her WNBA work and one for her Sunday Night Football sideline reporting.[1]
Sources
- Michele Tafoya Keynote Speaker (opens in a new window)
- Former NFL sideline reporter Tafoya running for US Senate (opens in a new window)
- Heated contests settle nominations for DFL, Republican parties in U.S. Senate race (opens in a new window)
- Democrat Peggy Flanagan wins Minnesota Senate race (opens in a new window)
- 2026 Senate midterm election results as Democrats win control, Schumer vows 'legislative razor wire' against Trump (opens in a new window)