Minnesota’s Senate race is reportedly shaping up to be one to watch heading into November, with a string of recent polls showing Republican Michele Tafoya running neck and neck with Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Tafoya, a former sports reporter turned Republican politician, is locked in a virtual toss-up with Flanagan in the race to become the state’s new senator. If Tafoya comes out on top, she would become Minnesota’s first Republican senator in 18 years.
The latest sign of the tight contest came from a new Insider Advantage poll of 1,200 participants, conducted Monday and Tuesday, which showed Flanagan holding a razor-thin 46-45 edge over Tafoya.
That result follows a Co/Efficient poll released a week earlier that gave Flanagan a 1-point advantage, 43 to 42. A KSPT 5 and SurveyAmerica poll from mid-September had the two candidates locked in a 42-42 tie.
Townhall columnist and GOP strategist Dustin Grage highlighted Tafoya’s positive polling in a post on X on Tuesday.
Despite the numbers, the close battle in Minnesota has received little attention from the press lately. Much of the coverage has instead centered on the Texas Senate race, where Democrat James Talarico is leading Republican Ken Paxton, President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate, in most polls.
But some pundits are starting to take notice of the race in the North Star State.
CNN’s resident conservative Scott Jennings pointed out that three straight polls have been favorable to Tafoya.
“Live ball there it seems,” Jennings wrote on X.
The tight numbers have caught the eye of Democrats as well. Center for American Progress chief Neera Tanden said the polling was “kinda worrying” for her party.
Tafoya spent years as a top sideline reporter for NBC Sports and ESPN before making the jump into politics. Her campaign is focused on ending the reported widespread fraud in Minnesota, continuing Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and cutting costs for the middle class.
Her campaign website also says Tafoya wants to “bring back courage and common sense,” which would include ending “radical social experiments” such as allowing men who have transitioned to compete against women in sports.
Flanagan, meanwhile, has laid out a lengthy list of priorities. Among them are halting “offensive weapons sales to Israel,” stopping what she calls ICE’s “out of control” raids and making more guns illegal.
Her website also calls for helping working-class people she says have been exploited by America’s “rigged” system, and it includes the claim that “Trump is seriously threatening our democracy.”
The contrast between the two candidates could hardly be sharper. Tafoya is running on fraud, immigration enforcement and middle-class costs, while Flanagan is campaigning on halting certain weapons sales to Israel, reining in ICE raids and expanding gun restrictions.
With three consecutive polls showing the race within a single point or tied, the contest in Minnesota appears to be anyone’s game as the calendar moves closer to November.
And while much of the national spotlight remains fixed on Texas, a growing number of voices on both sides of the aisle are beginning to recognize that Minnesota may be the Senate race that deserves a closer look.
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