Gov. Tim Walz speaks after the end of the special session in June Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
Gov. Tim Walz made it clear he intends to run for an unprecedented third four-year term in front of a group of 100 or so Democratic donors Tuesday, according to two people who were there.
In his speech at the Iron Ranger bar in St. Paul, Walz said something to the effect of “you’re all here making contributions, and you probably know I’m not going to run off to Mexico with your money, so look out for an announcement,” according to a source who attended the fundraiser and whose account was confirmed by another person there.
“He made it clear he is moving in that direction,” said a person in attendance.
The Reformer spoke to four people who were at the fundraiser or who have spoken to Walz about his plans in recent days. They were granted anonymity because they were not authorized by their employers to speak publicly.
Walz has also told several people privately but definitively that he will run again, and he will make a campaign announcement next week.
A Walz spokesman declined to comment.
A DFL source who was at the event said Walz was thrown off by the June killing of Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was a friend and governing partner. But the recent mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church, where schoolchildren were gathered for a celebratory Mass, “lit a fire in him” because he wants to provide leadership during another vulnerable moment in Minnesota history.
Despite the advantages of incumbency, a robust fundraising operation and his own natural political skills, winning a third term won’t be easy.
Walz would have to defend a lengthy record, during which he’s governed during some of the state’s worst crises: The pandemic and resulting academic declines; the murder of George Floyd and the uprising and rioting that followed; a spike in crime that has since subsided; emerging fiscal instability; and, finally, the political violence that took the life of Hortman and her husband Mark and badly wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
Another crisis has been state government’s own making: A wave of fraud in public programs is sure to be a centerpiece of the Republican campaign against him.
Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Republican candidate for governor from Maple Grove and currently chair of the Minnesota House’s fraud prevention committee, said Walz has allowed rampant fraud in his own agencies.
“A third Walz term would be a disaster, and I’m stepping up to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Robbins said in a statement to the Reformer. “I am committed to stopping the fraud, restoring fiscal responsibility and bringing back common-sense leadership so the state works for Minnesotans, not against them.”
Scott Jensen, the 2022 GOP nominee for governor, and Kendall Qualls, an army veteran and health care executive, are also running as GOP candidates. Neither immediately responded to the Reformer’s requests for comment.
Recent polling suggests that Walz remains popular with Minnesotans, but they are less pleased with the idea of him running for a third term. A June KSTP poll found that only 43% of Minnesotans surveyed say he should run again.
Despite Walz’s challenges, he has also enjoyed the highest of highs: A surprisingly easy 2022 reelection and a Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta that resulted in a bevy of legislative victories, from free school meals to drivers licenses for undocumented people, legal marijuana to huge investments in transportation and housing. He parlayed that record and a few high-profile national media appearances to emerge as Kamala Harris’ surprising pick to be her vice presidential nominee.
A national media and public speaking tour earlier this year fueled speculation about a 2028 presidential run, but he’s already said he won’t run if he wins a third term.
The last time Minnesota voters were faced with a governor seeking a third term, they rejected Iron Range Democrat Gov. Rudy Perpich in 1990.