Longtime former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya secured the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, multiple media organizations reported less than hour after the polls closed.
With 15% of the vote counted, Tafoya held 50.6% as of 8:50 p.m. central time.
Peggy Flanagan, lieutenant governor under Gov. Tim Walz, led the Democratic primary over Rep. Angie Craig. Flanagan had 51.9% of the vote with 12% of votes counted.
Flanagan, the more progressive candidate in the primary, has criticized Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act, legislation requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented individuals who have been arrested, charged or convicted of crimes.
“Voting three days into the second Trump administration for Donald Trump’s immigration bill that allowed him to terrorize our communities, the loss of life, the economic impact, the trauma – it’s horrific,” Flanagan said in a debate.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mas., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., who currently holds the seat, have endorsed Flanagan. Notably, President Donald Trump did not endorse a candidate in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race.
Tafoya, a former sideline reporter for 11 years for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, has focused her campaign on fighting fraud in Minnesota, which has gained national attention over the past several months.
She supported the Deporting Fraudsters Act, legislation that would immediately deport a noncitizen convicted of fraud in federal programs.
“Michele will fight for tough new mandatory minimum sentences that put fraudsters in federal prison and keep them there,” Tafoya’s website reads.
She also supported pulling federal funds from states that do not implement anti-fraud controls.
Tafoya leads Flanagan with more than $1.3 million in cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission. Flanagan has slighlty more than $1 million in cash on hand.
Tafoya has received $10,000 from the Jobs Opportunity Now PAC and $2,500 from the Salem Media Group PAC. Flanagan received $2,500 from the Dirt Road Democrats PAC; $4,000 from Shannon Finley, a lobbyist at Capitol Counsel LLC; and $3,500 from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation in California.
