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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday he will seek a third term in the 2026 elections, hoping to beat the odds to become the longest-serving governor in a state where voters have usually said two terms were plenty.
In a campaign video posted on YouTube, Walz said he’s running because his work is not done and he wants to make Minnesota a place where everyone has a chance succeed.
“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.”
Vice President Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket after his attack line against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance — “These guys are just weird” — spread widely.
Walz had been building up his national profile since their defeat in November. He’s been a sharp critic of Trump as he’s toured early caucus and primary states. In May, he called on Democrats in South Carolina to stand up to Trump, saying, “Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner.”
The governor came under heavy GOP criticism after a Minnesota speech in May when he compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents under Trump to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Congressional Republicans called him out at a hearing on immigration in June, but he refused to apologize.
Walz, 61, is also frequently mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, but in an interview with Axios in July, he said he would not make a White House bid if he sought reelection.
Walz said in February that he would not run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Tina Smith because he was more interested in staying governor. While his gubernatorial campaign was actively raising money, he held off on making it official, hoping to first get past this year’s regular and special sessions of the Legislature.
But within days after finishing that work, his close political ally, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, was assassinated by a man posing as a police officer. Walz delivered a eulogy at her funeral. Trump refused to call Walz to offer condolences, saying it would have been a waste of time.
Walz’s run for the vice presidency introduced the former high school teacher with a “Midwest Dad” image to a wider, national audience. But it also brought new scrutiny of his record as governor and as a congressman before that, and his tendency to embellish or exaggerate details and mangle his words.
He proudly touted the accomplishments of the 2023 legislative session, when Democrats used their full control to enact a sweeping platform of liberal priorities, including free school meals for all students, and expanded protections for abortion and transgender rights.
But he also faced renewed criticism from the right for his handling of the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, a $250 million pandemic food aid fraud case and his military record with the Minnesota National Guard. Critics said he exaggerated his rank and faulted him for leaving the military to run for Congress before his unit deployed to Iraq.
Walz was first elected in 2018 by over 11 percentage points and by nearly 8 points in 2022. But no Minnesota governor has won a third consecutive term since the state switched to four-year terms in 1963.
No Minnesota Republican has won a statewide race since Tim Pawlenty was reelected to a second term as governor in 2006. However, the traditionally Democratic state has become increasingly competitive in recent years. A couple of GOP candidates came close to winning statewide races in 2022 and the state House was tied between Republicans and Democrats for the 2025 session.
On the Republican side of the governor’s race, former business executive and Army veteran Kendall Qualls announced his candidacy in May and hopes to become Minnesota’s first Black governor. Qualls also ran in 2022 but lost the GOP endorsement to family physician and former state senator Scott Jensen, who announced in July that he’s running again.
The only current GOP office-holder in the race so far is state Rep. Kristin Robbins, of Maple Grove, who chairs a House committee formed this year to investigate fraud in government programs. She announced her candidacy Aug. 20.
Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
