Governor Tim Walz speaks at the conclusion of the special session on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at the Minnesota State Capitol. (Photo: Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
Gov. Tim Walz ended his campaign for a historic third term on Monday amid mounting pressure from members of his own party and intense attacks from Republicans over widespread fraud in state social services programs.
Walz defended his record in a statement and said he was confident he could win a third term but could not focus his full attention on rooting out fraud while running a campaign.
“I have decided to withdraw from the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on my job,” Walz said in a statement.
Walz will address the press on Monday at 11 a.m.
Some Democratic, GOP and Labor elected officials have been quietly worried for months that Walz’s name at the top of the ballot would give Republicans the governorship for the first time in 15 years and hurt Democrats’ prospects on the ballot.
Walz met on Sunday with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has expressed interest in running for governor, New York Times reported. Other potential Democratic candidates include Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon
Many Republicans have already entered the race, including House Speaker Lisa Demuth, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former congressional candidate Kendall Qualls.
Walz spent 12 years in Congress before winning the governor’s race in 2018. After the DFL took control of both houses of the Legislature in 2022, Walz signed into law the most crucial progressive program in at least a generation, including free school meals for all students; paid family and medical leave; and legalization of marijuana.
He burst onto the national political scene in 2024 after former President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and then-Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz as her running mate. Walz became a constant target of President Donald Trump, whose attacks continued even after Trump won the presidential election.
In September, Walz announced he would run an unprecedented third, four-year termafter many months of deliberations. The murder in June of Walz’s friend and close ally, House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, forced Walz and his family to consider the potential costs of another four years in office.
Trump’s attacks on Walz have intensified in recent months as national Republicans learned of the widespread fraud that occurred in Minnesota’s social services programs during his term, including the highly publicized Feeding Our Future scandal, in which fraudsters pocketed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars intended to feed children during the pandemic.
In December, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson announced fresh charges of fraud in state-administered Medicaid programs, alleging that fraudsters stole as much as USD 9 billion in government funds. Walz disputed Thompson’s estimate, seeing it as a political attack.
Read Governor Tim Walz’s full statement:
Good morning and content New Year.
Like many Minnesotans, I was content to turn the page to 2025. It was an incredibly arduous year for our state. And it ended on an extremely sour note.
For several years, an organized group of criminals has been trying to take advantage of the generosity of our state. And even as we make progress in the fight against fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors looking to take advantage of the crisis.
I won’t mince my words here. Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul and online – they want to make our state a colder and meaner place. They want to poison our people 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. They have already started taking money from our taxes to facilitate families pay for child care. And they have no intention of stopping there.
Don’t be fooled: we should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot deliver programs and services effectively unless we earn the public’s trust. That’s why over the last few years we’ve made systemic changes to the way we do business.
We have repeatedly reached out to the legislature for more tools to combat fraud. We fired people who didn’t do their jobs. We have seen people go to jail for stealing from our state. Working with the federal government, we cut off entire funding streams where we saw widespread criminal activity. We have put fresh locks on the doors of our remaining programs and hired a fresh program integrity manager to ensure these locks cannot be breached.
Minnesotans across the state are working tough on this problem. Attorneys, administrators and investigators are on the front lines defending the integrity of our state’s programs, and I want to thank them for their efforts.
There is more to do. An individual taxpayer’s dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar too many to tolerate. And while everyone has a role to play – from legislatures to prosecutors to insurance companies to local and county governments – it doesn’t stop with me. My administration is taking swift and decisive action to address this crisis. And we will win the fight against fraudsters.
But the political game we see from Republicans only makes winning this fight harder.
We have Republicans here in the legislature playing hide and seek with whistleblowers.
We have right-wing YouTubers and conspiracy theorists breaking into kindergartens and demanding access to our children.
The President of the United States is demonizing our Somali neighbors and illegally confiscating child care funds that Minnesotans rely on.
It’s disgusting. And that is hazardous.
Republicans are playing political games with the future of our country. And that’s a shame. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we welcome ideas from anyone, from any party, who wants to facilitate us continue to stay ahead of criminals.
We welcome the federal government’s involvement. I am grateful to the professionals at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI who are helping us win this fight.
But I cannot stand the actions of the political leaders in Washington – these opportunists who want to hurt our citizens in order to score a few low points. They and their allies have no intention of helping us solve the problem – only of profiting from it.
Which brings me to this: 2026 is an election year. And election years tend to intensify politics at a time when we simply cannot afford more politics.
In September, I announced that I would run for a historic third term as Governor of Minnesota. And I have complete confidence that if I give my all, I will succeed.
But as I reflected on this moment with my family and team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I jargon give your all in a political campaign. Every minute I spend defending my political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending Minnesotans from criminals who prey on our generosity and cynics who prey on our differences.
So I decided to withdraw from the race and let others worry about the elections while I focused on work.
I know this news may come as a surprise. But I approach the race without sadness and without regrets. I didn’t apply for this job just to be able to To have this job. I applied for this job so I could Down this job. Minnesota faces a huge challenge this year. And I don’t want to spend even one minute in 2026 doing anything other than getting up to meet this moment. Minnesota must come first – always.
This is what I believe servant leadership requires of me. As an optimist, I will hope that my friends across the aisle will consider what servant leadership requires of them at this time. We can work together to fight criminals, rebuild public trust and strengthen our country. But make no mistake: if Republicans continue on their path of abusing power, denigrating entire communities, and playing their own fraudulent game at the expense of Minnesotans, we will fight every step of the way.
I’m sure the DFL player will be in this position come November. I am confident that I will find a way to contribute to the state I love even after I leave office next January. But there will be time to worry about all this later.
Today, I’m proud of the work we’ve done to make Minnesota America the best place to live and raise children – from our fresh paid leave policy to the Child Tax Credit to our free lunch program.
I am doubly proud of the incredible team we have assembled to make this vision a reality. Thank you to every member of my staff and every state employee who is part of this fight. We need you at work to take care of the crucial tasks ahead of you.
Above all, I want Minnesotans to know this I am at work, 24/7, focused on making sure we are stay The best place in America to live and raise children. Nobody can take that away from us. Not scammers. And not the President. Not on my shift.
This story was originally produced by Minnesota reformerswhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
