Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya has won the Republican primary for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating competitors including Marine veteran Adam Schwarze and former NBA player Royce White.

She will face Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the general election. Flanagan, a progressive, beat centrist Rep. Angie Craig with a pledge to fight corporate influence and confront President Donald Trump. Minnesota voters have not elected a Republican to a statewide office since 2006, making this contest historic.

Tafoya, who served as a sideline reporter for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” from 2011 to 2022, expressed that the state needs new leadership. “We’ve seen what career politicians have done…they’ve brought us to a place of national embarrassment,” she told reporters after voting in a Minneapolis suburb.

With a margin of over 52% of the vote, Tafoya’s win comes amid a broader GOP push that hopes a fraud scandal involving public‑fund theft will open up opportunities down the ballot. Trump did not endorse a Senate candidate in Minnesota, but Tafoya received national GOP support.