Fresh off her primary win as the Minnesota Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Michele Tafoya explained her approach to facing Democrat Peggy Flanagan in the general election and fixing some of the key problems in this state.
She joined Liz Collin on her podcast and talked about her decisive win in a crowded field, fighting fraud, and protecting girls’ sports in Minnesota.
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“We are thrilled with the outcome and the work is really now getting underway. We just think that our message resonated. We talked about fraud, we talked about accountability, we talked about education, we talked about affordability, we talked about the issues that matter to Minnesotans. And we felt good from the beginning because we saw that people were getting on board with the way that they were contributing to the campaign financially from all counties, all 87 counties in Minnesota,” Tafoya said.
Tafoya will face Flanagan, Minnesota’s current lieutenant governor, in November. Among other things, Flanagan supports sex changes for kids, called Mount Rushmore a “symbol of white supremacy,” and encouraged people to “put your body on the line” in protesting President Donald Trump.
Additionally, Flanagan is expected to face intense scrutiny for Minnesota’s fraud crisis, since she has been Gov. Tim Walz’s “right hand” for the last eight years. During a recent interview, Flanagan dodged when asked if she bears any responsibility for Minnesota’s fraud crisis and appeared to put all of the blame on Walz.
“I think that they’re disturbed and they should be,” Tafoya said of Minnesota voters. “We have had a crisis of leadership in this state, and it started with Tim Walz and Flanagan’s been at his side the entire time. So for her to say the buck stops with the governor and not with her is just erroneous. It’s a way of shirking off responsibility.”
“And one of the words that I hear all over this state is accountability. I mean, the fact that we’ve had $9 billion of tax money go out the door to fraudsters and even to countries far, far away. People are happy to see some of those people getting thrown in prison, the actual fraudsters, but they want to know, where is the accountability for people in government who let that happen? So that is a great question for Peggy Flanagan, and she just doesn’t want to go anywhere near it. We need accountability and leadership we can trust,” Tafoya added.
Tafoya also discussed what she would do in the U.S. Senate to help put an end to Minnesota’s fraud problem once and for all.
“There’s a couple of senators already there who are proposing the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which I know is pretty amazing that we have to have legislation that says this or that we don’t have this legislation already,” she said. “It would do three key things: if you’re a guest of this country and you defraud Americans, you’re gone. You’re deported, no chance of coming back. If you’re an American and you defraud your fellow citizens, it’s no longer a slap on the wrist or a fine, it’s mandatory prison minimums. And third, if you’re going to take federal tax dollars to run a program in your state, then you better have guardrails to prevent fraud, to claw back if fraud happens … there are plenty of levers we can pull in the United States in the federal government.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration recently announced that it will end Medicaid funding for “gender transition surgeries and hormones for minors.” With boys still being allowed to play in girls’ sports in Minnesota, Tafoya discussed her stance on the issue.
“I believe in states’ rights, but this is when you’re talking about a class of human beings, women, and their rights are being trodden upon by biological men who want to interfere in their spaces, whether it’s sports or bathrooms or locker rooms, this is absurd. This is absurd,” Tafoya said.
Title IX “is a right afforded to girls so that they have access and they have the opportunity to go and earn scholarships and earn prize money and all the rest,” she continued.
“And yet, somehow we’re just deciding that the rules are gonna change. This is not transphobic. I love everyone … I also love women and I love girls. And I will say that my daughter, as a young athlete, I want to protect her, I want to protect her rights. I want to protect the rights of all women to play in their division. And I’ve covered sports for a long time, and there are differences and they are massive.”
Breaking the losing streak
Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota since 2002, but Tafoya believes that streak will end in November.
“I’m very proud of this. We have raised record amounts of money for a Senate campaign in the state of Minnesota, which tells me that the message is resonating, that people think we can win, that people think we are electable,” she said.
“So this could mark a real shakeup. I’ve never run for office before. I’m not a career politician. I had a career, I loved it. I just couldn’t watch it anymore. We’ve tried it their way, the way of the Democrat establishment, this single-party rule for years. We’ve tried it their way and here is where we are. I want to offer a change and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
