Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday he will seek a third term in 2026, 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.”
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-Sen. JD Vance — “These guys are just weird” — spread widely.
The governor came under heavy GOP criticism after a 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 as governor.
Walz said in February he would not run for the US 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 state legislative sessions.
But days after finishing that work, his close political ally, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, was assassinated. Walz delivered a eulogy at her funeral.
Walz and Minnesota mourned again late last month when two children were killed and 21 people were injured in a shooting at a Minneapolis church where students from an affiliated school were celebrating Mass.
Walz’s run for the vice presidency introduced the former high school teacher with a “Midwest Dad” image to a wider, national audience.
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. 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.
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 Sen. Scott Jensen, who announced in July that he’s running again.
The only current GOP officeholder in the race so far is state Rep. Kristin Robbins, who chairs a House committee formed this year to investigate fraud in government programs.