Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement Monday that he is ending his re-election bid and will not seek a third term.
Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, cited heightened attention on fraud allegations in Minnesota, adding that "the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win."
"But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all," he said. "Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences."
"So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work," Walz said.
The surprise announcement, coming just months after Walz had confirmed he planned to run again, sends a political shock wave through the state and creates a key vacancy at the top of its government. Walz faced no serious primary threat and had been the favorite to win re-election later this year.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is seriously considering a run for governor after Walz’s announcement, a source close to the senator told NBC News. The source said Klobuchar is receiving outreach from people encouraging her to run, but that she has not made a decision. Klobuchar would not be up for re-election until 2030 if she stayed in the Senate.
In a lengthy statement from his office Monday morning, Walz grounds the decision in his belief he needs to give full attention to the fraud allegations in the state, arguing that while everyone "should be concerned about fraud in our state government," Republican "opportunists" are "willing to hurt our people to score a few cheap points."
The major announcement comes amid rising scrutiny of fraud allegations in the state, prompting renewed criticism from Republicans in particular.
Late last month, a video from right-wing influencer Nick Shirley went viral, alleging fraud at child care facilities in Minnesota. After the video went viral, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would freeze all federal child care payments to the state. Days later, Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth, and Families said that investigators found the child care facilities in question "were operating as expected."
Dozens of suspects were indicted in 2022, during the Biden administration, as part of an alleged $250 million fraud scheme with the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.
A state audit report released in 2024 found that failures by the state’s Education Department led to the misuse of the Covid-era program. Some of the criminal cases related to the alleged scheme are ongoing, and several of the defendants are of Somali descent, which President Donald Trump latched onto in a slew of verbal attacks on Minnesota’s Somali community.
Walz referenced years of alleged fraud in his release, saying that "an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity."
He argued that "we should be concerned about fraud in our state government," pointing to his administration working to implement checks to avoid similar situations.
"There’s more to do," Walz said. "A single taxpayer dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar too much to tolerate. And while there’s a role to play for everyone – from the legislature to prosecutors to insurance companies to local and county government – the buck stops with me. My administration is taking fast, decisive action to solve this crisis."
The governor also referenced Shirley's video, labeling him a "conspiracy theorist," and called out the president for "demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on."
"It is disgusting," he said. "And it is dangerous."
Trump has attacked Somali immigrants living in Minnesota as “scammers” and “lowlifes,” and he has disparaged Somalia as “filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”
In a statement Monday, the White House criticized Walz and accused him of allowing “rampant fraud” in the state.
