Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drops out of race for third term
MINNESOTA (KVRR) — Months after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced he was ready to be Minnesota’s Governor for a third term, on Monday, he said otherwise.
“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. So I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election,” said Gov. Tim Walz.
For years, Minnesota has been in the national spotlight over cases of massive fraud. From Feeding our Future, to stolen Medicaid funds, and more recently, childcare. State Sen. Rob Kupec said that because of these fraud cases and more specifically a video made by Nick Shirley, Gov. Walz has had a political target on his back.
“He’s a political enemy of Donald Trump that is now impacting everyday Minnesotans in a very direct way. When you’re calling in threats to daycares because of that, I think as a governor, he has some responsibility to be like okay, I’ll pull back, I’ll run the state, I’ll do my job, and not running for re-election, maybe this will elevate some of that,” said Kupec.
“Donald Trump and his allies in Washington and in St. Paul, and online, want to make our state a colder and meaner place. 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 the country to raise a family,” said Walz.
While Gov. Walz is out of the race for a third term, he says he will be focused on the job for the next year.
“I did not run for this job to have the job. I ran for the job to do the job. Minnesota faces enormous challenges this year. And I refuse to spend a single minute doing anything other than rising to meet this moment. Minnesota has always come first and always will,” said Walz.
Some Democrats have suggested that Sen. Amy Klobuchar step into the race for governor. Klobuchar has not indicated if that might happen.
