In the end, Gov. Tim Walz said, his decision to end his bid for a third term as Minnesota’s governor came down to this: Facing a torrent of threats and taunts from the Trump administration over a fraud scandal that has plagued the state’s social services system, he concluded that abandoning his political campaign might shield his constituents from further harm.
“I don’t think any governor in history has had to fight a war against the federal government every single day,” Mr. Walz told reporters on Tuesday in his first lengthy remarks about his decision, announced on Monday, to quit the race.
The announcement came a few weeks after the White House began portraying Mr. Walz, a former vice-presidential candidate and member of Congress, as an avatar of Democratic misgovernance. In early December, federal agencies began threatening to cut funding for Minnesota programs in response to a sprawling criminal investigation into fraud in a Covid-19 program meant to feed children and other safety net programs overseen by the state. Federal prosecutors have asserted that as much as $9 billion might have been stolen.
The White House simultaneously launched an immigration crackdown in Minnesota as the president railed against the state’s Somali diaspora, noting that a majority of defendants charged in the fraud cases are of Somali origin. Last week, Republicans on Capitol Hill scheduled a hearing about Minnesota’s fraud scandal, and demanded that Mr. Walz testify.
Mr. Walz, who was first elected in 2018 and whose current term in office will end early next year, pledged to continue tightening oversight of safety net programs that proved easy to defraud. Speaking defiantly, he also said that his critics should not expect him to spend his remaining year in office being cowed.
“I have more energy today than I’ve ever had,” Mr. Walz, 61, told reporters at Tuesday’s news conference, where he and colleagues announced the rollout of a new paid family and medical leave program for the state, one of his signature legislative initiatives. “I am committed to this state more than I have ever been.”
Being unburdened from the constraints and demands of a campaign, he said, would allow him to focus on fighting fraud and protecting immigrants and L.G.B.T.Q. Minnesotans in the months ahead.
“The attacks on Minnesota are far beyond me, and it’s hurting Minnesotans,” said Mr. Walz, who called that the president’s insults toward Somalis in the state “absolutely unconscionable.”
Asked to respond to the governor’s comments, a White House spokeswoman said the administration’s efforts to combat fraud and illegal immigration in Minnesota would continue.
“Dropping out of the race won’t shield him from the consequences of his actions,” the spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, said in an emailed statement, which urged the governor to apologize for allowing “tax dollars to be misused so badly.”
The governor said that Republicans in the closely split Legislature should brace for a confrontational session in the coming weeks, adding that he intends to press them to vote on gun control bills and other measures he feels strongly about.
“Expect for the next 11 months for me to ride you like you’ve never been ridden, to make sure that you’re doing your job,” he said.
Mr. Walz said he had decided to drop out of the race over the holidays after conversations with members of his family. In a podcast interview recorded Monday, his daughter, Hope Walz, said that the federal scrutiny of Minnesota reflects that “Trump just hates” her father.
Part of the reason he stepped aside was his belief that doing so stood to “kind of get that target off of Minnesota,” she said in the One Hour Detours show.
Mr. Walz said little about widespread speculation that his exit from the race might pave the way for Senator Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Democrat, to run for governor. The two met on Sunday, and aides have said Ms. Klobuchar is considering a run.
Asked about his plans after leaving office in 2027, Mr. Walz, a former public-school teacher, said he intended to run marathons and perhaps return to the classroom.
“I’m a really good public-school teacher,” he said. “I think that’s something where I would find joy.”
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
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