Reshuffled Minnesota governor’s race after Walz exit will pose challenges for both parties
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Minnesota Republicans had a tailor-made campaign message against an incumbent governor they saw as ripe for defeat: Tim Walz had failed to tackle fraud or take accountability for it.
Minnesota Democrats had, for all of the Walz liabilities, a well-funded incumbent and a smooth path to a November race they hoped to make into a referendum on President Donald Trump.
Here comes the reset — or at least recalibration — for both parties. Minnesota voters now face a scrambled top of the ticket that features an open governor’s mansion and an open U.S. Senate seat.
The trudge to November will offer more detours but maybe none bigger than the sitting governor shelving a reelection campaign.
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A visibly somber Walz read from a prepared eight-minute speech at the Capitol on Monday that included his declaration he would “step out of the race and let others worry about the election.”
Walz to GOP: ‘Put up or shut up’
By Tuesday, however, the governor’s public mood had changed dramatically — and defiantly.
Just before an event Tuesday morning highlighting the state’s new paid family leave program, Walz laughed, cooed over a baby and offered hugs and handshakes to colleagues.
But once the family leave questions were done, Walz ripped into the state’s local and national Republican leadership and President Donald Trump as he answered reporter questions about his future.
“I don’t think any governor in history has had to fight a war against the federal government,” Walz said, noting federal actions against the state as well as Trump’s personal attacks on the Somali community and his sharing of baseless conspiracy theories, including one he shared online suggesting Walz was responsible for the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a close Walz friend.
“We are under assault like no other time in our state’s history because of a petty, vile administration that doesn’t care about the well-being of Minnesotans,” he said.
Walz made clear he felt unbound now since he would not be seeking reelection and that he would pursue an aggressive legislative agenda in his final year while defending his own record of lawmaking.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said at one point.
Watch: Walz takes questions Tuesday
Among his priorities, Walz said he planned to force votes expanding state gun regulation and compel Republicans to “take votes on protecting our children, or they’re not going to get anything else done.”
“Put up or shut up now and tell us what you’re going to do to make this state better,” Walz said of the GOP. “Expect me to ride you like you’ve never been ridden.”
Will Klobuchar enter the race?
On Monday, Walz made it clear that he felt like that being a target of Trump’s hostility was hurting Minnesota.
“Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest would be a minute I can't spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who want to prey on our differences, so I've decided to step out of this race,” Walz said.
“I'm passing on this race with zero sadness and zero regret,” he continued. “I did not run for this job to have the job. I ran for the job to do the job.”
Now the job will be handed off to someone else. Both Republicans and Democrats need to figure out who will carry their banner.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is giving the race serious consideration and receiving encouragement to enter, a source close to the four-term lawmaker told MPR News. Klobuchar kept a low profile Monday, posting to social media her admiration for Walz but saying nothing about her own intentions.
While she probably won’t have the DFL lane to herself, she would be an instant front-runner for the nomination and head into the general election with an edge.
Klobuchar is known for posting big margins in all four of her statewide campaigns, gained a national pool of followers during a presidential run and is a proven fundraiser.
Her entry could rattle Republicans who’d lined up to take on Walz and his track record at the Capitol.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the last Republican to hold the office, said Klobuchar would be a tough opponent for the GOP field.
“If she doesn't run, it’s still game on,” Pawlenty said. “If she does run, a number of those candidates are going to fade away over the next six months.”
Many Democrats with higher-office ambitions were coy about their plans, also watching for Klobuchar to make the first move. One statewide official, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, ruled out a campaign for the top job and said she would stick with her campaign for U.S. Senate.
Republicans have seen their field grow rather than contract. State Rep. Peggy Bennett added her name Monday to the list of more than a dozen GOP hopefuls already.
Some candidates could find their time in the race becoming more difficult if they can’t post strong fundraising numbers or show strength at the Feb. 3 precinct caucuses.
Several said Monday that Walz’s decision would have no bearing on their campaigns.
“It doesn’t matter if the DFL props up Amy Klobuchar or any other candidate, they share Walz’s record of failure and incompetence,” said Kendall Qualls, a businessman and one of the top-tier GOP candidates.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth, another GOP candidate for governor, said more than Walz are tainted by the fraud issue.
“The way I look at it is the Democrats, whoever that might be in 2026 that's on the ballot, there hasn't been a single Democrat that has come out against the fraud when it was happening,” she said.
The goal now, Demuth said, is to make sure voters don’t let the opposing party off the hook.
Still, political analysts with Democratic or Republican allegiance agreed a wounded Walz could have been easier than a new candidate to defeat in a midterm election, when the sitting president’s party typically faces electoral headwinds.
Preya Samsundar, a Republican strategist who has worked for past statewide candidates, said the new complexion of the race is trickier for Republicans even if voters rank fraud high on their lists of considerations.
“The game has now changed. The path now changed,” she said. “And we need to take a hard look at this race and realize that we need to start consolidating and figuring out who is going to be the candidate to take on this new candidate because it’s not going to be as easy and as simple as when Tim Walz was on the ballot.”
Abou Amara, a Democratic strategist and former legislative staff member, said for his party the goal will be to pick a candidate who isn’t identified with a lax approach to identifying and stopping fraud.
“I think whoever the nominee will be has to have clean hands and has to lean into this issue. It’s not just going to be enough to say, ‘This isn’t going to happen again,’” Amara said. “But lean into it and explain what you’re going to do and pivot and contrast with the Republicans.”
