Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya was defeated in her bid for Minnesota’s Senate seat, dropping comfortably to Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan as Democrats swept nationwide.
Tafoya, the Republican nominee, n by roughly 10 factors with 80% of the vote reporting. NBC referred to as the race for Flanagan shortly after midnight.
Tafoya labored for over a decade as Sunday Night time Soccer’s major sideline reporter for NBC. Earlier than that, she labored as a sideline reporter for Monday Night time Soccer and likewise did play-by-play and studio host duties for varied ESPN telecasts.
Main information organizations projected Democrats to take management of each the Senate and Home. Democrats wanted to flip 4 Senate seats to retake the chamber, and picked up races in North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and Iowa earlier than the clock struck midnight Tuesday.
The seat stayed in Democratic fingers after Sen. Tina Smith introduced her retirement final February.
Within the lead as much as election evening, Tafoya gave the impression to be bucking the nationwide swing towards Democrats, n at the same time as a few of the identical surveys confirmed Democrats in redder states far forward of their opponents. However, as Democrats gained massively in areas gained by President Donald Trump in 2024, the nationwide blue tsunami proved far too sturdy for Tafoya to beat.
Tafoya e on election evening, saying at a marketing campaign occasion that she referred to as Flanagan to congratulate her. “The voters spoke, so we’re going to respect the voters,” d.
Through the marketing campaign, Tafoya raked in s, based on an FOS evaluation of FEC information. These contributions got here from a plethora of householders, former gamers, and media personalities.
Not less than seven principal house owners gave to Tafoya, together with Vikings house owners Mark and Zygi Wilf and Wild proprietor Craig Leipold. Tafoya additionally obtained help from Sunday Night time Soccer guidelines analyst and former NBC colleague Terry McAulay and NBA legend John Stockton.
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