GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya says she won't fall in line with national party leadership

Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya emerged as the winner Tuesday night for the Republican nomination.

Minnesota voters will choose between her and Democratic nominee Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan in November. Tafoya said she plans to serve Minnesotans and stand independent from President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“I’m an independent thinker, and we’re going to welcome everyone into this camp,” she told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Wednesday morning, the day after the election.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.

You're going to need independents in the fall to win. What’s your pitch to them?

My pitch is that this state has been going 100 mph. in the wrong direction, and that’s because of single-party rule for years in St. Paul, and it’s turned our state, Cathy, into an embarrassment nationally.

We have dealt with so many problems in Minnesota. I saw a gentleman interviewed on the street yesterday, who said, “Minnesota’s got a lot of problems," and he’s right. And it’s heartbreaking for those of us who love this state.

Look, I fell in love with my husband here. We got married, raised our family here. I I grew my career here. So I don’t want to sit by and let the state we call home become a continued laughingstock while businesses are leaving, and our kids can’t afford to stay.

We have a leadership crisis, and we need to solve it.

Peggy Flanagan called you a foot soldier for President Trump. How independent will you be of the president's agenda?

I have been running to represent Minnesotans.

So I'm not going to answer to party leadership as my opponent does. Peggy Flanagan does whatever her party tells her to do and goes whichever way the wind is blowing in the Democrat Party.

I’m not going to answer to special interests or lobbyists. I’m going to represent Minnesotans and improve things for the lives of every person in Minnesota.

So when I believe something is right, I will go with it. When I believe something’s wrong, I have the spine to stand up to it, and I’m going to do that. I'm an independent thinker, and we're going to welcome everyone into this camp.

Whether it’s Republicans, very conservative, whether it’s independents, even Democrats. I've talked to Democrats who feel that their party has left them behind. They feel politically homeless.

So we’re here, and we’re welcoming to everyone. And we’re going to do this because Minnesota deserves so much better than what it’s been through in these past several years.

Can you compromise? Can you work with Democrats?

Oh, absolutely. People have asked me, "What’s the first thing you're going to do when you get to Washington?” They want me to go do something big and huge, but the very first thing, Cathy, that I plan to do is go knock on the other 99 office doors of the other senators and find out who I can work with, because this is about improving the lives of Minnesotans.

Now, career politicians— yeah, I am going to call them out because if we’re talking about experience and getting things done, look at Minnesota under Peggy Flanagan and Tim Walz. What have they gotten done? Test scores are down, crime is up, the fraud is over $9 billion, and it doesn’t matter if I’m in Moorhead or Eyota or Orono or St. Paul.

People want to know what’s going to happen with this fraud. They are angry. We’ve all been stolen from. It happened on her watch, and she hasn’t said a thing about it.

So, if that’s what an experienced politician does, I think we need to try something new.

Are you looking forward to debating Peggy Flanagan. Would you agree to debate?

Absolutely.

And we did do a forum at Farm Fest a week or so ago. Yes, I’m absolutely looking forward to debating her.

Which committees would you want to sit on? What are your areas of interest?

Well, let’s start with Ag because Minnesota needs a farm bill, and sadly, our Angie Craig voted against it — whipped votes against it. Amy Klobuchar voted against it.

I think that’s unfortunate. We have to look out for our farmers, and we have to bring common sense reforms to the SNAP program, which, as you know, Cathy, is part of the farm bill, and SNAP has been abused, and it’s been a victim of fraud as well. So I think some common sense reforms to SNAP are totally appropriate.

I’m also interested in foreign relations. I have long been concerned about the growth of China in the world, and when I mean growth, I’m talking about the tentacles this country has spread under its communist leadership, to South America and other places.

They want to become the dominant world power. The United States is a more benevolent country, and I’m going to stand up for the United States every time.

Would you vote to end the war in Iran?

Listen, it’s interesting. People like to make this an either-or situation. Here’s what I think about Iran: This is a regime that cannot have a nuclear weapon. At the same time, we don’t want a extended, protracted situation where there are boots on the ground. But we have a lot of interest there.

Thousands of Americans have been killed by this regime and by the Houthis and Hamas and Hezbollah as their proxies, and we need to make sure that they never get a nuclear weapon.

We need to protect and stand with our allies in the region, and I’m prepared to do that without a quote-unquote “forever war” and boots on the ground.

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