ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats’ 2024 candidate for vice president, is ending his bid for a third term as governor amid President Trump’s relentless focus on a fraud investigation into child care programs in the state.
Less than four months after announcing his reelection campaign, Walz said Monday that negative attention and Republican attacks have contributed to an “extraordinarily difficult year for our state,” making it impossible for him to serve full time as governor while also being a candidate to keep his job.
“Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest 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 want to prey on our differences,” Walz said at the state capitol. “So I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.”
Walz did not take questions from reporters after speaking for about seven minutes, much of which involved repeating his earlier written statement announcing his decision.
“Donald Trump and his allies — in Washington, in St. Paul, and online — want to make our state a colder, meaner place,” Walz said, referring to the Trump administration withholding funds for the programs and the president’s attacks on Somali immigrants in Minnesota. “They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”
Despite the opaque references, Walz did not explicitly acknowledge the effect of a viral video from a right-wing influencer who claimed he’d found rampant fraud at day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis. But the Trump administration has cited the video in its decision to cut off certain federal funding streams, and the video’s creator, Nick Shirley, was happy to take credit for the governor’s decision.
“I ENDED TIM WALZ,” Shirley posted Monday on social media.
Walz’s exit scrambles the contest in a Democratic-leaning state that Republicans have insisted they can win. Democrats currently hold 24 out of 50 governor’s seats nationwide, with 36 seats, including Minnesota’s, on the ballot in 2026.
The candidates to replace Walz
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is considering entering the Minnesota race, according to a person close to her. The person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the senator, who ran for president in 2020, has not made a final decision.
Around a dozen Republicans are already running. They include MyPillow founder and Chief Executive Mike Lindell, an election denier who is close to Trump. They also include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth; Dr. Scott Jensen, a former state senator who was the party’s 2022 candidate; state Rep. Kristin Robbins; defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Chris Madel; former executive Kendall Qualls; and former Minnesota GOP Chair David Hann.
A military veteran, union supporter and former high school educator and coach, Walz helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.
Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election after his attack line against Trump and his running mate, then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance — “These guys are just weird” — spread widely.
Walz continued building his national profile since his and Harris’ defeat in November. He was a sharp critic of Trump as he toured early caucus and primary states. In May, he called on Democrats in South Carolina to stand up to the Republican president, saying, “Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner.”
There were partisan reactions to Walz’s announcement
Reactions to Walz’s decision reflected the intense partisanship certain to spill into the campaign to pick his successor.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin, who led Minnesota Democrats when Walz was first elected governor in 2018, said Walz “entered public life for the right reasons and never lost sight of them.” Walz’s guiding principle, Martin added, “has always been showing up and doing the work that actually makes their lives better.”
Klobuchar, posting on X, praised Walz as “a true public servant” who made a “difficult decision” but said nothing about her own pending choice.
Another Minnesotan of national prominence, Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was more succinct, issuing a statement that said in its entirety: “Good riddance.”
Democratic Governors Assn. Chair Andy Beshear, the second-term Kentucky governor, praised Walz as a “a national leader in fighting for the middle class” and said his organization “remains very confident Minnesotans will elect another strong Democratic governor this November.”
At the Republican Governors Assn., spokeswoman Courtney Alexander blasted Walz for “failed leadership” and argued that the eventual Democratic nominee “will need to defend years of mismanagement and misplaced priorities.”
Walz, for his part, stood by his administration’s stewardship.
“We should be concerned about fraud in our state government,” he said, adding that “a single taxpayer dollar wasted on fraud should be intolerable.” But Walz said his administration has worked diligently to address fraud and manage the state’s operations.
A look at Walz’s time as governor
Through nearly two terms as governor, Walz navigated a closely divided legislature. In his first term, he served alongside a Democratic-led House and Republican-controlled Senate that resisted his proposals to use higher taxes to boost money for schools, healthcare and roads. But he helped broker compromises.
He used the office’s emergency power during the COVID-19 pandemic to shutter businesses and close schools, prompting Republican pushback.
Republicans also were critical of Walz over what they saw as his slow response to sometimes violent unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Walz pleaded for calm after Floyd’s death but also stood out as a white political leader who expressed empathy toward Black Americans and their experiences with police violence.
In his second term, Walz worked with Democratic majorities in both legislative chambers to chart a more liberal course in state government, aided by a huge budget surplus. Minnesota eliminated nearly all of the state abortion restrictions enacted in the past by Republicans, protected gender-affirming care for transgender youth and legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Walz and his fellow Democrats also enacted free school meals for all students and a paid family and medical leave program that went live on Jan. 1.
That record, combined with Walz’s rural background and experience representing southern Minnesota in Congress, landed him on Harris’ radar as she considered potential running mates in 2024 after replacing Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. After a whirlwind search, she opted for Walz over other candidates including North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Walz received a warm welcome from Democratic voters but drew mixed reviews for his lone debate against Vance.
More recently, Walz has been frustrated in his efforts to enact new gun control measures following a mass shooting in August at Annunciation School in Minneapolis, which left two children dead and injured dozens. He had hoped to call a special session to consider a list of gun safety proposals.
Karnowski and Barrow write for the Associated Press. Barrow reported from Atlanta.
The Packers are locked in as the No. 7 seed, and the Vikings are playing for pride. Have to believe with all the injuries his team has dealt with, Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur is going to make preserving health a priority. So no matter what happens at quarterback, I like the Vikings winning at home.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden has turned to one of his most trusted and long-serving foreign policy advisors as his choice for secretary of State.
Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken, 58, a veteran diplomat and former senior official at the State Department and National Security Council, perhaps on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the Biden transition planning.
For the record:
7:33 a.m. Nov. 24, 2020An earlier version of this article said Antony Blinken was the descendant of Holocaust survivors. His stepfather was a Holocaust survivor.
The Democratic president-elect has said he could announce his choices for several positions this week, as he moves to form a Cabinet and his administration more broadly despite President Trump’s refusal to concede his election defeat.
Blinken is seen as someone who could easily win Senate confirmation even if Republicans still control the chamber in the next Congress. Given the depth of his experience, he could hit the ground running, current and former diplomats said.
Blinken was a deputy national security advisor and deputy secretary of State in the Obama administration as well as national security advisor to Vice President Biden from 2009 to 2013.
The stepson of a Holocaust survivor, Blinken has leaned more toward intervention in world crises than some of his colleagues, but is also facile in readjusting his position to match that of the administration he serves. He is known as fiercely loyal to Biden.
Blinken has also advised Biden during his presidential campaigns, serving during the just-concluded campaign as Biden’s principal foreign policy advisor and spokesman.
“Joe Biden will benefit just by not being President Trump,” Blinken said in an interview with The Times during the summer. “That is the opening opportunity.”
Bloomberg, which first reported the likely Blinken nomination, also said Jake Sullivan, 43, formerly one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides as well as an advisor to Biden, is likely to be named national security advisor, a White House staff position that does not require Senate confirmation.
Ron Klain, Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff, said Sunday that the president-elect would be making his initial cabinet announcements on Tuesday, but declined to specify which positions would be filled first. The people familiar with Biden’s selections asked not to be identified because he hasn’t yet made the announcements.
State is regarded as one of the most prestigious Cabinet posts. The secretary of State is the nation’s top diplomat, conducting meetings with foreign leaders across the globe.
The president’s national security advisor is one of the most important and powerful jobs in the White House, leading a staff of dozens of experts drawn from the government’s military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies who develop U.S. foreign and military policy.
Blinken and Sullivan didn’t respond to requests for comment. A Biden spokesman declined to comment.
When Biden was a senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken served as his staff director before leaving to work on Biden’s short-lived 2008 presidential campaign. Blinken graduated from Harvard and from Columbia Law School.
After serving in the Obama administration, Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors, a political strategy firm, with a top Obama-era Pentagon official, Michele Flournoy. She is a top candidate to be Biden’s Defense secretary; if named and confirmed, she would be the first woman to hold the job.
Biden met on Nov. 17 with defense and intelligence experts, including Blinken and others who worked for Obama when Biden was vice president. He gathered them together because the Trump administration has blocked him from getting the intelligence briefings traditionally granted the president-elect.
“We’ve been through a lot of damage done over the last four years, in my view. We need to rebuild our institutions and my workforce to reflect the full strength and diversity of our country,” Biden said at the briefing. “We need to focus on readiness for whatever may come.”
Times staff writer Evan Halper and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert runs with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 21.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. TV: CBS, NFL Network.
Line: Chargers by 1½. O/U: 39½.
Houston has been a hard matchup for the Chargers, and can turn up the heat on Justin Herbert. But Jim Harbaugh’s team has found new ways to win, and is capable of outscoring the Texans, who are really struggling in the red zone. Low-scoring and physical.
Phillip Danault’s decreasing role with the Kings led to the veteran two-way center getting an opportunity for a fresh start in a familiar setting after being traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.
The Kings acquired a second-round draft pick while also freeing up salary-cap space and ice time for other players in the trade reached just before the NHL holiday roster freeze on Saturday. The draft pick the Kings landed is one Montreal previously acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Prompting the move for the Kings was the development of Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere, and the offseason additions of Joel Armia and Corey Perry. General manager Ken Holland also expressed a desire to provide more playing time for Alex Turcotte and second-year center Samuel Helenius.
“Phil’s role changed here, got reduced on the penalty killing and on the power play. It’s been a bit of a struggle here offensively for Phil since the start of the year,” Holland said on a video call.
“So I found a trading partner, and I think it’s going to be good for Phil,” he added. “He gets to go back to a city where he had a lot of success. And we get a second-round pick and obviously we see some cap space to use going forward.”
Danault was in the fifth season of a six-year, $33 million contract he signed with the Kings in the summer of 2021.
The 32-year-old Danault, who topped 40 points in each of his first four seasons with the Kings, hasn’t scored a goal and has just five assists in 30 games, while missing the past four with an illness. Holland said he consulted with Danault and his agent in opening trade discussions before landing what he believed was the best offer.
Danault, who is from Victoriaville, Quebec, returns to Montreal where he spent six seasons and established himself as one of the league’s better defensive-minded forwards.
He had 54 goals and 194 points in 360 games with Montreal over a stretch that ended with the Canadiens reaching the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, which they lost in five games to Tampa Bay.
Danault was selected in the first round of the 2011 draft by Chicago, and spent his first two seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to Montreal.
The Canadiens add a 12-year veteran to a young, up-and-coming team that reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 2021, and is in the thick of a tightly packed race. At 18-12-4, Montreal enters Saturday eighth in the Eastern Conference standings with eight points separating the last-place Blue Jackets and second-place Washington Capitals.
The Kings are in a similar situation in the West. At 15-10-9, they’re seventh, with eight points separating the 10th-place St. Louis Blues and fourth-place Vegas Golden Knights.
The trade comes after the Kings ended an 0-2-2 skid with a 2-1 win at Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
Holland acknowledged the Kings need more offensive production — they rank 28th in the NHL, averaging 2.56 goals per game. But he’s pleased with the team’s defensive play and goaltending, with the Kings ranking third in giving up 2.5 goals per outing.
“Certainly we need more goals,” he said, noting the Kings are a combined 5-9 in overtime and shootouts. “I’m hoping that some of the people that have scored in the past will start to score here going forward.”
Holland also backed third-year coach Jim Hiller by noting how the Kings are no different than a number of NHL teams approaching the midway point of the season.
“If we’re in a malaise, then 25 teams are in a malaise. Like, the whole league’s packed together,” Holland said. “Jim’s done a good job, and our team is playing very structured and competes every night.”
After an amazing comeback against a really strong New England team last Sunday, the Bills are emboldened and Josh Allen is on an MVP pace. Cleveland relies on its stout defense, but that unit didn’t show up in Week 15 against Chicago, surrendering 31 points. Buffalo, which is 7-2 outside the division, wins this going away.
