Tim Walz ends reelection bid as fraud scandal rocks Minnesota

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he won’t seek reelection after coming under fire for a scandal involving alleged fraud in state programs that has been amplified by President Donald Trump and Republicans.

Walz’s decision, announced in a statement on Monday, marks an abrupt halt to his political career. Relatively unknown outside of Minnesota politics in 2024, he catapulted himself to the national stage as a surrogate for the Democratic presidential ticket by delivering direct appeals to voters, calling Republicans “weird” and sharing personal anecdotes about how, as an avid hunter, he came to support stricter gun laws. He later joined the ticket when he was chosen by Kamala Harris as her vice presidential running mate after former President Joe Biden decided against running for a second term.

Since then, the 61-year-old has faced repeated setbacks and attacks from Republicans. The latest blow came from allegations over widespread fraud in the state. The Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future was at the center of the largest pandemic relief fraud charged in US history, according to the Justice Department. Dozens of individuals, many of them Somali immigrants, have been charged in connection with that case as of November.

“For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis,” Walz said in the statement.

The governor, who announced in September that he would seek a third term, has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. local time to discuss the move. He met on Sunday with US Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Democrat, who is considering a run for governor but hasn’t made a decision, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Walz has faced a turbulent second term. In June, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in what Walz called a “politically motivated assassination.”

“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,” Walz said. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

Mike Lindell, the businessman who founded My Pillow Inc. before becoming an outspoken ally of Trump, has said he plans to run for Minnesota governor.