In no surprise at all, Tim Walz withdraws from Minnesota governor’s race
Even Walz could read the writing on the wall, although he wasn’t happy about it:
On Monday morning, we learned that Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) is dropping his reelection bid.
Walz released a statement Monday morning confirming reports that he was dropping out of the race and later held a press conference.
During the press conference, he apparently just read his previous statement, and took no questions:
He again accused Republicans and President Donald Trump of exploiting the crisis politically. He again accused the White House of demonizing Somali communities and withholding child care funds.
He again insisted his administration had aggressively tackled fraud, fired bad actors, locked down programs, and put the right people in charge. And he again cast himself as the adult in the room, reluctantly abandoning politics so he could focus on governing.
This clears the way for Amy Klobuchar to run for the office; my guess is that she’ll run and she’ll win:
Klobuchar didn’t comment on her future political plans in a statement Monday. But the senator, commenting on the governor’s move to combat the fraud scandal full time rather than to seek another term in office, said, “Walz made the difficult decision to focus on his job and the challenges facing our state rather than campaigning and running for re-election.”
The senator has won all four of her Senate elections by wide margins, including a nearly 16-point re-election in 2024.
Selfless Tim Walz.
As soon as I saw that the NY Times was focusing on the Minnesota fraud cases, I realized that the Democrats wanted Walz out of the race. On December 1 I wrote:
But still, the [Times’] highlighting of Walz’s role surprised me. My guess is that the Times would like him to refrain from any more participation in national politics, he was such a disaster in 2024. I have no evidence for this; it’s just a hunch.
And of course, because the Times is basically the Democrats’ propaganda organ, that meant that the Democrats wanted Tim out. They got what they wanted.
It is astounding to me that Walz came fairly close to becoming VP.

Oh she probably will win, changing the top expecting a different outcome, but the fraud will still be there.
Astounding?
Not sure why.
Kamala Harris could well have been president…and would have been if enough Democrats had decided to vote (and if enough Arabs and Moslems had decided to hold their collective noses and vote for her…and if the well-oiled voting machines didn’t have too much of a spread to overcome—kudos to Scott Presler in PA, along with other like-minded indefatigable patriots).
When you think about it, Tim Walz is THE QUINTESSENTIAL DPUSA VP candidate—exceedingly dishonest, utterly corrupt, essentially incompetent, basically criminal…and most importantly, an incredible jerk—just as Harris is THE QUINTESSENTIAL DPUSA candidate for POTUS, though one of her advantages over Walz is that no one really knows what she’s talking about…and THAT’S a good thing…).
Heard more than a few ruminations that Walz was chosen BECAUSE he could bring in all that fraud money.
Oh look, the campaign raised 36 mil 24 hrs after Walz was picked.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/08/nx-s1-5068557/kamala-harris-tim-walz-fundraising
Funny that. Check the source and date on that link too.
When did the acceptable manner of rebutting false allegations of fraud become resigning in disgrace? I mean, if Walz was as innocent as he proclaimed, wouldn’t the honorable thing to do be fight the false allegations with truth? By resigning, Walz might have as well draped a sign over his neck that said, “Of course I knew all about it and I did it for the somali votes.” Which is, of course, the truth. Unless he was also in on the take, which is something I hope we find out when the indictments roll out. And it couldn’t happen to a bigger schmuck.
Barry Meislin?
Why? Because they’re so awful – and by “they” I mean Walz, Harris, Biden, and a host of others. Not just Walz by any means. Most of the people I know voted for Harris/Walz, but I’m astounded by that, too.
WHAT??!!
You forgot that DJT = Adolf Schicklgruber???!…and that his most cherished desire is to destroy America??!!!
(Not to worry…I keep forgetting, too.
All the time.
Though what I try NOT to forget is that the Democrats and their fellow travelers don’t want me to forget it. EVER.)
Too bad he wasn’t forced to resign, but the Lt. governor is a complete leftist nutjob, just as bad if not worse.
IMO Walz is out because the donors abandoned him, not because any of them had any heartburn with his policies or the in-your-face corruption of the Somalis.
Interesting that Amy Klobuchar is giving up a safe seat and a cushy Senate job. My take is that she sees very little chance for the Dems to regain the Senate majority anytime soon, and the prospect of wielding no power gives her the sadz.
With Walz out, the DFL in MN has a strong chance to keep the governorship. It would be nice if Minnesota Republicans were to nominate a candidate who could win. (Not Mike Lindell.) Commenters at the Power Line say R caucuses are Feb. 3.
Bill Glahn, at Power Line, in the comments, says that Walz hopes to be named ambassador to Communist China in a Newsom administration.
Further proof that “Tim Walz is THE QUINTESSENTIAL DPUSA VP candidate”…
“A Minnesotan Who Begged Kamala Harris To Relieve Him of Gov. Tim Walz Finally Gets His Wish”—
https://freebeacon.substack.com/p/a-minnesotan-who-begged-kamala-harris
The fact that Klobacher wins by large margins says more about her voters than her.
I’ve seen talk that if she’s elected governor she can and will name Walz to take over her Senate seat. Pretty shameless if true.
Jimmy, nothing is too shameless for Democrats but that would contradict neo’s very likely inference that the Dem establishment wants Walz out if the picture.
I give props to the Democrat party, they know how to pass the political baton. They know how to fundraise. They know how to spin any issue or scandal.
Breitbart already has a piece up about Klobuchar and her history of corruption.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/01/05/corrupt-klobuchar-mulls-campaign-to-replace-walz-as-governor-of-minnesota/
Tim Walz–The Fraudfather.
I’m sure the Minnesota DNC had considered succession plans for Walz when he was running for VP. It’s easy to just move forward with those plans now that he is a weakened governor, and if it is Klobuchar, then they had plans for her succession and it wouldn’t have been Walz as VP. All that to say indeed there is no surprises here.
Klobuchar has been popular in Minnesota because she keeps her head down, picks women’s issues that don’t offend anyone, and doesn’t call Republicans Nazis.
But as governor she can’t avoid some hard choices.
The Republicans will likely nominate a poor candidate. They usually do.
@ Leland on January 6, 2026 at 10:23 am
Makes me wonder what might have happened if Kamala had picked Klobuchar as her VP candidate. Probably did not want another women, especially one who might over shadow her.
Maybe Klobuchar even turned down the “opportunity”.
R2L, I think Klobuchar would have been Biden’s running mate in 2020 if not for George Floyd. While Klobuchar is no prize, she did pretty well in the primaries for a second-tier candidate while Kamala who was supposed to be a first-tier candidate imploded in ignominy and had to drop out *before* the primaries.