Sen. Tina Smith
Sen. Smith, Tina Smith's Congressional Office, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
President Donald Trump, who endorsed former NFL reporter Michele Tafoya for U.S. Senate in Minnesota on October 16, wrote of the nominee on Monday: “The only way she can lose is if they cheat by playing games with the Ballots as they come in.” He added, “The Federal Government will be watching closely.”
Trump also pointed back to his own record in the state: “I won Minnesota three times, but they didn’t give me the Victories,” he wrote.
[NOTE: Trump lost Minnesota in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.]
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), who is retiring, responded to Trump’s comments: “He’s blatantly laying the groundwork to steal an election if his chosen candidate doesn’t win… Minnesota will not take kindly to thinly veiled threats from a guy we’ve rejected three times (soon to be four).”
He's blatantly laying the groundwork to steal an election if his chosen candidate doesn't win… Minnesota will not take kindly to thinly veiled threats from a guy we've rejected three times (soon to be four) pic.twitter.com/LGds9fBaNw
— Tina Smith (@TinaSmithMN) October 26, 2026
Tafoya’s Democratic opponent is Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who leads by an average of 3.5 points, according to RealClearPolling‘s average as of October 27.
Flanagan has warned voters that Tafoya would be “another senator for Trump”, while Tafoya says she is independent of the president. In one ad she said: “When Trump is right, I’ll work with him. When he’s wrong, I’ll stand up for Minnesota.”
On who counts the votes, the state’s chief election officer is already at odds with the White House. Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who is running for his fourth term, told MPR News on Oct. 9: “We need someone who will stand up to any and all who will unlawfully attempt to interfere with the freedom to vote.”
His Republican challenger, Tad Jude, answered in the same piece: “I want to ensure that only legal U.S. citizens are voting.”
Sen. Tim Scott
Sen. Scott, photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons