Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Tim Walz is dropping out of the race for Governor of Minnesota, and he's blaming President Donald Trump and Republicans for playing politics in a widening scandal that threatens to destroy his political career.
The onetime vice presidential candidate met earlier in the day with Democrat Senator Amy Klobacher about his decision, leading to speculation that Ms. Klobacher will soon announce her candidacy for Minnesota governor.
"I have every confidence that if I gave it my all, I would win that race," the Governor said at a news conference late Monday morning, hours after an official written announcement that he would no longer seek re-election.
"Minnesota faces enormous challenges this year, and I refuse to spend a single minute doing anything other than rising to meet this moment," he said with a touch of anger.
The two term Governor is facing mounting national criticism over a massive Somali fraud scandal in his state involving billions of dollars in apparent fraud against programs for children and residents with disabilities.
In an odd twist of logic, Governor Walz said he blames Republicans for political divisions by trying to "poison our people against each other" -- but Walz cites no involvement by Democrats in the scandal, instead pointing fingers at President Trump and especially citizen journalists, whom he called "conspiracy theorist right wing YouTubers."
At the news conference, Walz read a statement saying, "Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul, and online – want to make our state a colder, meaner place," Walz said in a statement Monday morning. "They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family."
"As I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests 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 prey on our differences.
"So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.
This also follows a 2025 that saw the political assassination of a state lawmaker, and a school shooting that killed two and injured another 17.
At one point in his announcement, Walz sounded somewhat like his former running mate in the 2024 election, Kamala Harris, when he said, "I did not run for this job to have the job, I ran for the job to do the job."