Minnesota has not sent a Republican to the US Senate in 20 years, and Michele Tafoya said so herself before making the case that this time is different.
A challenger in a state that has voted one way for two decades usually runs on her own biography. Tafoya ran the whole segment on her opponent's — 20 years of state paychecks, and what she says happened to Minnesota's schools, streets and public money over them.
"In 20 years she has been taking a paycheck from the taxpayers."
Tafoya is the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Minnesota. Her opponent is Peggy Flanagan, who was Tim Walz's lieutenant governor — attached at the hip to him for eight years, in Kudlow's phrase.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 3 arguments that matter.
👤 Guest: Michele Tafoya, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Minnesota
🎙️ Host: Larry Kudlow, who anchors Kudlow on Fox Business weekdays at 4 p.m.
📰 Published: 10 September 2026 on Fox Business, and on the Kudlow podcast feed
🟣 Apple Podcasts | 🔗 Episode page | ⏱️ 46 min
Key Takeaways
Tafoya's whole case is that her opponent cannot separate herself from a 20-year record on the state payroll
Her line: she does not deserve a promotion, she deserves a pink slip
She ties three things to that record — fraud losses, reading and math below grade level, and crime in the Twin Cities
Minnesota has not elected a Republican senator in 20 years, and her argument is that 20 years is long enough for a state to change
Her comparison is Indiana, which she says was a basketball school and now wants a college football national championship
What she says she heard at the state fair was not preference but urgency — voters asking for change rather than considering it
1. Normal Versus Crazy
Kudlow set the frame before she spoke, and she took it.
His framing for the race is normal versus crazy, which he said should be her theme, and he applied it to the state as a whole
He identified Flanagan as Tim Walz's deputy, attached at the hip to him for eight years, and said there is no way she can detach herself from that record
He also conceded the arithmetic against Tafoya: Minnesota has been electing Democrats, even though it has sent Republicans to office in the past
His own read is that there is too much craziness in Minnesota now, and that she benefits from the contrast
2. The Pink Slip Case
Tafoya answered with a list rather than a slogan, and every item is attached to the same 20-year span.
"In 20 years she has been taking a paycheck from the taxpayers."
"We have been paying her salary for 20 years that she has been quote unquote serving the public."
On the state's money, she said Flanagan oversaw fraud running to billions, lost or given away to criminals
On schools: "Kids are not reading and doing math at grade level"
On crime, she said Flanagan oversaw what has been erupting particularly in the Twin Cities and the state's major metropolitan areas
Her conclusion is the line the case is built to reach — that her opponent cannot detach herself from the record, and "she does not deserve a promotion, she deserves a pink slip"
3. What The Fair Told Her
Asked whether the craziness in Minnesota works in her favor, Tafoya answered with the state fair rather than with a poll.
She was at the Minnesota State Fair nearly every day, and described it as a great Minnesota get-together
"People came up to me and they are yearning for change. They are begging for it. They are asking for change."
What she says they told her was specific rather than general: that they cannot do this anymore, that taxes are too high, that the fraud is insane, that their children's schools are not safe and that the streets are not safe
She raised the 20-year Senate record herself rather than being asked about it, and answered it with the point that a great deal has changed in 20 years
Bonus Insights
Her analogy for a state changing its habits is a sports one: Indiana University, which she said was a basketball school and is now chasing a college football national championship. Her conclusion from it is that things can change, and that she is confident Minnesota will
"A lot of things have changed in 20 years" is the pivot she uses on the electoral history, rather than disputing it
Kudlow introduced her as someone who looks to him like a winner in Minnesota, and previewed the race as the theme for the rest of the hour
Neither of them named a poll, a fundraising figure or an internal number at any point in the segment — the case as made is entirely about the incumbent party's record
Tafoya's bottom line is that this race is a performance review rather than an election: 20 years on the public payroll, a fraud loss in the billions, schools below grade level and crime in the Twin Cities, and a voter base she says is no longer weighing change but asking for it.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
Minnesota State Fair (Where Tafoya says she spent nearly every day and heard voters asking for change — the only evidence she offered for the mood in the state)
Indiana University (Her analogy for a place changing what it is known for: a basketball school now chasing a college football national championship)
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