Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday announced he will seek a third term as governor in 2026, ending months of speculation about his political future after his and ex-Veep Kamala Harris’ defeat in November.
The two-term Gopher State governor, 61, claimed that his work there isn’t finished and that he wants to still pursue such progressive issues as stricter gun control, tax cuts for the middle class and health-care affordability.
“We’re not done yet,” the Dem declared in a video while cruising around in his vintage Harvester International Scout. “I want to make Minnesota a place where everyone has a chance to succeed — in every corner of the state.”
Walz was expected to announce his re-election bid earlier this summer, but he put those plans on hold after the tragic murder of former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as the shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
The progressive governor lamented the tragedy.
“I’ve seen how we help each other through the hard times,” he said. “And boy, we’ve seen terrible times this year. I’m heartbroken and angry about the beautiful people we lost to gun violence.
“But it’s in these moments we have to come together. We can’t lose hope because I’ve seen what we can do when we work together.”
Minnesota is one of 13 states that don’t impose term limits on its governors, but its voters have rarely elected the same gov for more than two consecutive terms.
The last time this happened was when former Gov. Orville Freeman won three two-year terms in the 1950s, before the office became four years. If Walz wins, he will be the first Minnesota governor elected to three consecutive four-year terms in the state’s history.
Walz is kicking off his re-election bid with a much higher national profile now that he has unsuccessfully vied for the vice presidency.
Since President Trump and Vice President JD Vance dispatched Harris and Walz in November, the governor has held town halls across the country, blasting the Republican White House.
Walz, who was widely seen as the Democrats’ attempt to win back young male voters in the race, later reflected to Politico, “We shouldn’t have been playing this thing so safe.”
In May, he ignited a firestorm by comparing Immigration and US Immigration Customs Enforcement agents to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Walz declined to apologize for those incendiary remarks.
That same month, he suggested that Democrats should be “meaner” and “bully” Trump.
His comments fueled speculation he might vie for the presidency in 2028. But he told Axios in July that he would not run for president if he sought a third term as governor and elsewhere posited that his stint as the veep nominee may have hurt him with voters back home.
The wider scrutiny he received for dabbling in presidential politics led to widespread criticism of him for exaggerating key details of his past, such as implying he had combat experience and claiming he was in Hong Kong for the Tiananmen Square massacre and that his wife used in vitro fertilization.
“I’m a knucklehead at times,” he admitted during his debate against Vice President JD Vance last fall.
Additionally, Walz has faced scrutiny for his handling of the riots that ravaged his state after George Floyd’s death in 2020.
Republicans have a growing field of candidates hoping to challenge Walz, including Army veteran Kendall Qualls, former state Sen. Scott Jensen and state Rep. Kristin Robbins.
The GOP hasn’t won statewide in Minnesota since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s victory in 2006.
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