A former NFL sideline reporter is making a bid for the U.S. Senate.

Michele Tafoya announced Wednesday that she’s running as a Republican for an open Senate seat in Minnesota. She retired from NBC in 2022.

A California native, Tafoya joins a fledgling Republican primary field in the race to succeed Sen. Tina Smith, the retiring one-term Democratic incumbent, the New York Times reported.

“For years, I walked the sidelines when the stakes were the highest, and that job taught me how leadership really works,” she wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “I’m running for U.S. Senate to bring that experience to Washington and deliver the real results Minnesota deserves.”

The post also includes a campaign video that opens with a shot of Tafoya walking on a football field.

“As Minnesota’s senator, I will clean up the system, fighting corruption, ending the fraud and protecting your tax dollars,” she said in the video. “I will protect what’s fair and safe, standing with our law enforcement officers, deporting dangerous criminals, and keeping female sports for female athletes.”

Tafoya took jabs at Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, for the state’s major fraud scandal and Rep. Ilhan Omar, another Democrat, for her criticism of the police, as well as what she suggested was a “radical ideology” fueling transgender youths’ participation in sports, the Times said.

David Hann, the former chair of the Minnesota Republican Party and former state senator, announced his candidacy in mid-December. Also running are Royce White, a former professional basketball player who lost to Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024, and Adam Schwarze, a retired Navy SEAL, among others, the Times said.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Angie Craig and the state’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, have both announced Senate campaigns, according to the Times.