Michele Tafoya, a longtime sportscaster, prepares a Republican bid for US Senate in Minnesota

By David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — Michele Tafoya, a longtime sportscaster and conservative commentator, filed papers Tuesday to run for US Senate in Minnesota, giving the Republican Party a well-known candidate in a state that’s being roiled by the ongoing federal immigration crackdown.

Tafoya filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. Chris Marston, a Republican lawyer listed as her campaign treasurer, confirmed that Tafoya would formally launch her bid Wednesday morning.

The broadcaster’s impending entry jolts an already dynamic contest set off by Democratic Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement announcement last year. Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar is weighing whether to launch a run for governor that could further disrupt the state’s political landscape.

Minnesota has been on Republicans’ radar as a place to make inroads ever since President Donald Trump lost the state by less than two points in 2016. He would lose the state by roughly seven points in 2020 and about four points in 2024.

The Trump administration’s deployment of hundreds of immigration and border agents to Minnesota has set off protests across the Twin Cities, with scenes of confrontations between the two sides being shared widely. Tensions between Minnesota’s Democratic leaders and Washington spiked after an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 31-year-old protester who had blocked traffic with her vehicle.

The Justice Department has subpoenaed at least five Minnesota officials as part of a probe into whether the state and local leaders obstructed federal immigration enforcement efforts, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Tafoya, a veteran NFL broadcaster who has covered sports at several networks over three decades, left broadcasting in 2022 to begin a foray into Republican politics. She now hosts a conservative podcast.

She has been critical of Minnesota leaders who have objected to the immigration crackdown and ripped dozens of protesters who interrupted a Sunday church service because a pastor there appeared to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

“In Minnesota, law enforcement has been demonized for years,” Tafoya posted on X recently, responding to a video from Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is running in the Democratic primary for Senate against Rep. Angie Craig. “We are short on officers. Morale has plummeted. Career criminals are released to offend again. And radical leftists care more about them than they do about honest Minnesotans who simply want to see the chaos end.”

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