MINNESOTA GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya is pressing a common sense campaign as she moves into the general election, telling voters she believes there is space in her coalition for Democrats, independents and conservatives who want a change in direction. Tafoya, who won the Minnesota GOP Senate primary on Tuesday, said she wants to stop what she called a socialist lurch in Minnesota and across the country.
Speaking after voting in a suburb outside Minneapolis, Tafoya said she opposes what she described as “Democrat socialism” and argued that socialism does not work. She framed her campaign around school performance, accountability and public safety, saying there is a home in Minnesota for voters who want “common sense,” a “return to sanity,” better learning in schools, an end to fraud, and lower crime. After her victory, she said her campaign would speak to more than conservatives and would try to represent “a lot more” than just one party.
Hours after the primary win, Tafoya officially became the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate race and will now face Minnesota Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in November. Tafoya said her state has been moving in the wrong direction for years under single-party rule and argued that many Minnesotans are “brokenhearted” about what has happened. She said the moment calls for change and insisted the campaign will appeal to voters across the political spectrum who are ready to reject the officials who, in her view, led the state to this point.
Tafoya is also trying to make history. She said she is aiming to become the first Republican to win statewide office in Minnesota since 2006. That goal underscores the size of the challenge she faces in a state that has leaned Democratic in statewide contests for years, even as Republicans see an opening with frustration over state politics and recent turmoil. The race now places a high-profile conservative newcomer against an established Democratic officeholder with statewide name recognition.
