Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announces that he would not be seeking re-election Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Walz was elected to Congress in 2006 to represent Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, defeating a 6-term Republican incumbent, and built a reputation as a centrist-to-moderate Democrat, especially on veterans’ issues, agriculture, and education while serving as a National Guard member in Congress.
In March 2017, he announced a run for governor, leaving the Washington gridlock and emphasizing a "One Minnesota" message and took office in January 2019 with consolidated support from the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.
"Tim Walz rose at a moment of maximum political upheaval," retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel, running for Congress as a Republican to unseat Minnesota Dem. Rep. Ilhan Omar, told Fox News Digital. "After the George Floyd protests, Democrats consolidated power in Minnesota, the media closed ranks, and Walz benefited from a narrative that treated him less as a governor subject to scrutiny and more as a symbol of progressive governance."
HOW FEARS OF BEING LABELED 'RACIST' HELPED 'PROVIDE COVER' FOR THE EXPLODING MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL
A demonstrator waves the flag of Somalia as a vehicle passes by a rally in protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amid a reported federal immigration operation targeting the Somali community, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Dec. 8, 2025. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
Some political pundits last year had viewed Walz as a possible contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Such talk is obviously over amid the Minnesota fraud scandal and the governor's stunning move to end his re-election bid.
Veteran Democratic strategist Michael Ceraso told Fox News Digital that Democrats, heading into 2028, need someone younger than 60, not attached to the Harris 2024 campaign, "an executive with a proven track record of leveraging government programs to serve others, not wasting taxpayer dollars, and a candidate with emotional intelligence matched with unscripted rhetoric that connects with someone at a wrestling match or a local bar and in southern states."
"Waltz is a good man. A folksy man. But he is not a ‘fresh’ take. He does not check any of these boxes," Ceraso emphasized.
Walz's daughter, Hope, gave some insight this week into why he ended his bid for a third term, including a dig at Trump.
"I think he believes if he's not in the race, there's nothing, they [Republicans] have nothing else because he has that, you know, national profile," she said. "Trump just hates him for some reason. I think it's because he's everything Trump will never be."
Walz took several swipes at conservatives in his Monday announcement, at one point claiming Republicans are "playing politics with the future of our state."
Conservative New Hampshire radio host Chris Ryan told Fox News Digital, "Apparently all the mirrors at the Governor's mansion in Minnesota are broken."
"It's not Republicans' fault that a massive fraud scandal is ending Tim Walz re-election bid, it’s his lack of ability to identify and address the scandal in a way that satisfies Minnesota voters."
Ultimately, Nagel told Fox News Digital, "Walz’s rise was powered by crisis politics and party loyalty," Nagel said. "His fall came when accountability finally caught up. That arc should be a warning about what happens when power goes unchecked for too long."
"In the end, Tim Walz wasn’t undone by his critics — he was undone by the absence of accountability that surrounded him for too long and his belief that legacy media outlets would continue to whitewash his record."
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/from-congress-vp-nominee-disgraced-former-governor-look-rise-fall-tim-walz