Scheduled Tribe. Paul, Min. , After losing his bid for vice president on the Democratic ticket this November, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he is not ruling out running for a third term in the state's top office.
“I've always said that the decision to do this is really driven more by people as they start to see if there's a desire in the direction we're going. If we see there's support, I'll listen. ,” Walz said in an interview Thursday, his first interview with WCCO since the campaign ended.
Walz, who is halfway through his second term, said a decision about his political future will come sometime next year, but for now his focus is on the legislative session that begins in January. The Capitol will look different: A Minnesota House tied between Republicans and Democrats would end the DFL trifecta of the last two years, which saw a run of progressive policy victories Paid family leave, gun safety measures, legalized cannabis, abortion rights and more,
This means Minnesota is back to divided government, a defining feature of his first term in office. He promised to work with Republicans to pass the next budget, the biggest task on his to-do list next year.
And the state will face a bleak financial scenario in future years. State budget forecasters said the state is spending more money than it takes in revenue, Which could lead to a loss of $5 billion,
“I would also like to say that our political environment is not as damaged as the national [climate] As yet. I think it's still there. And look, I'm not naive, but we proved it in 2019. We were still able to accomplish some things,'' Walz said. ''So I think now I'm back in an environment that feels like we're going to accomplish something.'' The split house gives us an opportunity to prove to the country again that we can deliver. Can complete.”
There are no term limits for governor in Minnesota, but it would be noteworthy if Walz were to run for office again. Democrat Rudy Perpich is the only governor of Minnesota in modern history to serve three terms, although not consecutively. Former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty Tried unsuccessfully for a third term in 2018,
Reflecting on the '24 campaign, Walz says he needed to “learn more about America.”
Walz's track record as governor is the reason Vice President Kamala Harris Former school teacher turned leader elected To be his running mate. Reflecting on her time as a vice presidential candidate, Walz said she was proud of the campaign and that it was a privilege to travel across the country to reach out to voters.
But he missed.
“I think what we have to understand is the mood people are in and understand where they are. I think the economic issues have impacted them,” Walz told WCCO. “I think we have to understand — what kind of leadership do they want? We were promising to be inclusive. We were promising to bring people in. Donald Trump has said that's not what he wants , and so if America is leaning that way, I think it's to understand and learn more about America because I thought they're probably going to move toward a more positive message.”
is the democratic party reckoning after defeat – Not just for the White House but also in Congress, where Republicans will control both houses. Walz said his biggest lesson in the defeat was to listen more and think more about how Democrats are communicating their message.
Help inspired among working class people Victory of newly elected President Donald Trump. He accepted those tendencies.
“I think we have to figure out if we're communicating – I think we're communicating in the right way, but are we communicating in the right places? Are we communicating where Where are the people and where are they listening?” Walz said. “To see Donald Trump as a champion of the middle class, I don't quite see how that's going to happen, but I recognize that that's where people voted. So I think we both have to decide Is the message correct?”
California is “Trump-proofing” its policies. Will Minnesota do the same?
Democrats in California – with the 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's ready to “Trump-proof” the state,
The political balance of Minnesota is very different from that of St. Paul and it is highly unlikely that Republicans who share power in the House would agree to do something similar to California. But Walz said he's considering what it would look like if Trump follows through on some of his promises abolish the education department And Recovering unspent funds for climate initiatives,
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a fellow Democrat, also told Axios ready to take legal actionAs they have done before with other Democratic-led states, against the incoming administration.
“I'm asking our agencies to understand what it would mean if Donald Trump followed through on the things he said he was going to do. What that would look like for us here and how we would be able to respond ?” Walz told WCCO.
