St. Paul, Minnesota – After losing his bid for vice president on the Democratic ticket in November, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he has not ruled out running for a third term in the state’s highest office.
“I’ve always said that the decision to do that is actually more determined by the people because they’re starting to see if there’s a desire in the direction we’re going. If we see that the support is there, then I would listen ,” Walz said in an interview Thursday, his first at WCCO since the campaign ended.
Walz, who is halfway through his second term, said a decision on his political future will come sometime next year, but for now he is focusing on the legislative session that begins in January. The makeup of the capital will look different: A tied Minnesota House between Republicans and Democrats will end the DFL trifecta of the past two years, which saw an onslaught of progressive policy victories like psupport for family leave, gun safety measures, legalized cannabis, abortion rights and more.
That means Minnesota is back to divided government, a defining feature of his first term. He pledged to work with Republicans to pass the next budget, which is the big task on the to-do list next year.
And the state faces a bleak financial outlook in the coming years. State budget forecasters say the state is spending more money than it is taking in revenue. which could lead to a $5 billion deficit.
“I would also argue that our political climate is not as damaged as the national climate [climate] yet. I think it’s still there. And look, I’m not naive, but we proved it in 2019. We still managed to get some things out,” Walz said. “So I think we’re now coming back into a climate that looks like a Split House gives us an opportunity to prove to the country again that we can get things done.”
Minnesota has no term limits for governor, but if Walz were to run again it would be notable. Democrat Rudy Perpich is the only Minnesota governor in modern history to serve three terms, even though they were not consecutive. Former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty unsuccessfully tried for a third term in 2018.
Looking back on the vice presidential campaign, Walz says he needs to ‘learn more about America’
Walz’s record as governor is one of the reasons why Vice President Kamala Harris was elected chose the former school teacher turned politician to be her running mate. Reflecting on his time as a vice presidential candidate, Walz said he was proud of the campaign and that it was a privilege to travel the country to make the case to voters.
But he fell short.
“I think we have to understand the mood that people are in and understand where they are at. I think economic issues have had an impact on them,” Walz told WCCO. “I think we have to understand – what kind of leadership do they want? We promised to be inclusive. We promised to get people involved. Donald Trump has said that’s not what he wants, and so if that’s what America is leaning towards, I think it’s for me to understand and learn more about America because I thought they were probably moving towards a more positive message would evolve.”
The Democratic Party does have a reckoning after the defeat– not just for the White House, but also in Congress, where Republicans will control both chambers. Walz said his biggest lesson in losing was to listen more and for Democrats to think about how they deliver their message.
Support among the working class propelled newly elected President Donald Trump to victory. He recognized these trends.
“I think we need to figure out: Are we communicating – I think we’re communicating the right way, but are we communicating in the right spaces? Are we communicating with where people are and what they’re listening to?” ?,” Walz said. “To show Donald Trump as a champion of the middle class. I absolutely don’t see how that would happen, but I recognize that people voted there. So I think we both have to decide: Is the message the right one?”
California is making its policy ‘Trump-proof’. Will Minnesota do the same?
Democrats in California — with a supermajority in the state legislature and control of the governor’s office — are in a special session to fund the attorney general’s office so it is prepared to ‘Trump-proof’ the state.
The political balance in Minnesota in St. Paul is very different and it is highly unlikely that the Republicans who will share power in the House of Representatives will agree to something similar to California. But Walz said he’s thinking about what it would look like if Trump follows through on some of his promises to abolish the Ministry of Education and recovering unused money for climate initiatives
Attorney General Keith Ellison, also a Democrat, also told Axios he is prepared to take legal action, as he has previously done with other Democratic-led states, against the new administration.
“I’m asking my agencies to understand what it would mean if Donald Trump were to follow through on the things he said he was going to do, what would that look like for us here, and how might we respond? Walz told WCCO.
