Gov. Tim Walz’s wild ride into the stratosphere of American politics came crashing down on Tuesday when he and his vice president, Kamala Harris, lost the presidential race to Donald Trump.
Walz returns to Minnesota exhausted and battered by the brutal scrutiny of a national political campaign – and likely to hear more second-guessing from bitter Democrats who say Harris should have picked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin said Walz disowned Harris’ campaign and couldn’t be blamed for Harris’ defeat.
“Even though we lost this race, there is no doubt that Governor Walz helped strengthen the mandate and attract voters to this coalition,” Martin said. “It would be really unfair to say that the reason we lost this race was because of the addition of Governor Walz. I think it’s quite the opposite.”
Larry Redmond, a Minnesota lobbyist and teenage political adviser to the overdue Hubert Humphrey, agreed: “People don’t vote for the vice president of the United States.”
Walz is now making significant decisions about his political future after raising his national profile, albeit in a mandate he managed to lose to Trump, a twice-impeached convicted felon who, despite losing the election, tried to stay in office in 2020.
If Walz were to run for governor and win a third term, he could become the first Minnesotan to win three or four-year terms. (Minnesota governors served two terms until 1963)
Martin said he wasn’t sure if Walz would want to run for governor again in 2026, but he would be difficult to beat.
“He would be an immediate front-runner in this race regardless of which Republican decided to run against him,” Martin said. “He has a great list of accomplishments here in Minnesota.”
There still remains the question of 2028.
Just a few months ago, Walz was a little-known Midwest governor, but after a 100-day sprint of national media appearances in which he called Trump and J.D. Vance “weird,” mass rallies, ropes and high-flying fundraisers, Walz likely has a list of potential candidates for Democratic president.
He has shown he has the skills to run a retail campaign, a staple of the state’s early presidential nominating contests. It’s a proven fundraiser with a fresh, bulky rolodex. He also has a long list of legislative victories — paid family leave, codification of abortion rights, free college — that will energize the progressive base that typically shows up in Democratic primaries.
Harris had hoped that Walz’s rural origins, Midwestern demeanor and military, teaching and coaching résumé would sway some of the working-class voters who have left the Democratic Party in droves in recent decades, but instead Trump continued his dominance among those voters by adding more Black and Latino working-class voters into the fold.
During the accelerated campaign, Walz’s background drew in-depth and sometimes damaging criticism from Republicans and the national press, forcing him to own up to what he called “obtuse” erroneous statements.
He once suggested that while in the National Guard he had seen combat, when he had not; he said he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre while he was away; stated that “more than 80% of students (in Minnesota) missed fewer than 10 days of school” during the pandemic when it actually closed schools for months; has repeatedly said that he and his wife, Gwen Walz, used in vitro fertilization – a claim attacked by some anti-abortion Republicans – to start a family, when in fact they were using a different type of fertility treatment.
Jeff Blodgett, a longtime Democratic, Farm and Labor strategist who managed the overdue Sen. Paul Wellstone’s campaigns, said Americans saw a fresh flavor in Walz: “Rather than just a politician, he showed that he was true and straight-talking and informed about issues and policies affecting people. “His contribution to the mandate was nothing short of positive, and the loss says more about our country than any single factor of the Harris-Walz campaign.”
Walz is next scheduled to serve another two years and will have to work with a Legislature that appears divided as Republicans won three seats, leading to a 67-67 tie in the House of Representatives at the time of two votes.
Lawmakers will meet in January to craft a two-year budget, and Republicans are expected to negotiate difficult to rein in spending and force tax cuts. If the government does not reach an agreement by June 30, it threatens to suspend government activities.
A revitalized opposition could actually support Walz, said Charlie Weaver, former chief of staff to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose own national ambitions were thwarted.
A divided government gives Walz a foil while allowing him to take center stage in the political debate.
But first, Weaver said, Walz should take a break. “Take some time to decompress. Meet your family. Take a vacation. Take a breath. Gain perspective. Remember that most Minnesotans are proud of you. Republicans and Democrats. It was great to have someone talking about Minnesota and he did a good job.”
He will then need to reconnect with Minnesotans.
“Make sure Minnesotans know he takes being governor seriously,” Weaver said. “He went back to the chair. People might say he’s lost touch with Minnesota. He needs to reconfirm that he is all-in.”
Redmond, who saw the overdue Walter Mondale suffer in a devastating landslide in 1984, said Walz can expect daggers to come to the surface because local opponents will see an opportunity now that Walz has fallen.
“Ignore it and go back to your business,” Redmond advised. “It sounds like cheap and easy advice, but what else are you going to do?”
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