Gov. Tim Walz is pitching himself as a “battle-tested” leader prepared to face unpredictable headwinds from the federal government as he charges into his bid for a third term in office.
The second-term DFLer announced this week that he’s running for reelection and he set the stage for his campaign Friday night in front of a group of hundreds of supporters packed into a hotel ballroom. They hoisted “Walz for Governor” signs that also read “Stand up fight back” and waved small American and Minnesota flags.
Outside the ballroom, people took photos with the governor’s teal Harvest International Scout vintage vehicle with “One Minnesota” plates. And some donned Harris-Walz campaign hats and T-shirts, still fresh from an unsuccessful presidential run just months in the rearview.
Walz told supporters that he was running for another term to tend to “unfinished business” like passing additional restrictions on firearms in the wake of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. And he said he would fiercely push back on President Donald Trump’s agenda – and on GOP candidates for governor here who could implement similar policies in Minnesota.
“He's motivated by two things: cruelty and corruption. He grifts off you, and then he savors the pain of the American public. And that approach to government, I wish it weren't true, is threatening to seep right into our state, too,” Walz said. “We’ve got a bunch of Donald Trump wannabes that are trying to ask the people of Minnesota to make them governor of Minnesota, which they want to govern like it's Mar-a-Lago and not Minnesota. I promise you, I'll never stop fighting to protect this state.”
Ahead of the event, Walz told MPR News’ Morning Edition that he’s ready to guide the state through whatever challenges lie ahead. And he said he’s already proven that he can lead in a crisis.
“I certainly think we're in unprecedented times. And I think what we found is that on any given day, we need to be ready to deal with crisis,” Walz said. “And I am pretty battle-tested with the global pandemic and response that Minnesota was pretty much recognized as doing as well as any state. We've seen civil unrest and we've navigated an economy that's incredibly unpredictable.”
The incumbent will be evaluated on how well he handled the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest following George Floyd’s murder and deepening examples of fraud in government programs as he asks voters for a job extension. Republicans who have lined up to challenge Walz on the 2026 ballot have critiqued the governor’s handling of all three. And they’ve said they would be better equipped to root out fraud in state programs.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kristin Robbins, a state legislator, credited acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson for charging eight people alleged to have defrauded the state’s housing stabilization program.
“As Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said, the scope and depth of the fraud in Minnesota is so large that he has ‘literally run out of ways to express what is happening in our state and in our state programs,’” Robbins said. “Governor Walz’s failure to hold his agencies accountable and stop fraud on the front end has enabled criminals to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from vulnerable Minnesota citizens and taxpayers.”
On Friday, Walz defended the state’s response to misuse of the housing stabilization services funding, saying officials flagged improper payments that led to law enforcement action. He said new legislation passed this year gives the state more authority to cut off payments to providers when fraud is suspected but more can be done to flag it and fend it off. He also criticized GOP lawmakers for raising the issue without posing fixes.
“These are criminals that are sophisticated. Someone breaks in your house and steals from you, we have to make sure we're stopping them. And (what) we need to do is make sure the locks on the doors are better,” Walz said during the Morning Edition interview. “Republicans are offering no real solutions other than saying, ‘Look, someone broke into your house.’ That's like driving by a fire, and saying, ‘Look, a fire.’ Yes, we know that. Help us make sure that we can prevent it.”
Some, including officials in his party, said the governor has work to do in rebuilding support in rural communities. His support there receded after white-hot scrutiny during his unsuccessful bid for vice president last year.
“I think he'll have a lot of headwinds just on that third-term front,” state Sen. Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead, told MPR’s Politics Friday this week. “I will give my one knock against him is that I don't think he has spent enough time going to some of those rural areas. I think there is a message there that the DFL Party can bring to those rural areas. And I think there are votes to be found there.”
Walz said he’ll go out around the state to connect with voters. And he’s sticking with his two-time campaign slogan of “One Minnesota.”
“Minnesotans understand this story. It's part of our DNA to be good neighbors, and we're going to get our country out of this mess,” Walz said.
Marion Slocum, of Edina, attended the Friday campaign rally with her daughter and son-in-law. She said she supports the DFLer’s campaign and thinks he can be a good check on the president.
“I love Tim. I think he's great. He'll make a great governor, and we have to fight to save our democracy. In this country, we really have serious work to do to fight back,” Slocum said.
Walz isn’t expected to face a challenge from his party as he seeks the DFL endorsement next spring. A broad field of Republicans will have a tougher decision. The Republican field so far includes Robbins, former state Sen. Scott Jensen, businessman Kendall Qualls, ex-martial arts fighter Brad Kohler, former Navy officer Phillip Parrish and former St. Cloud city council member Jeff Johnson. Others have suggested they’re considering it.
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