Walz is back in Minnesota with $1M in the bank and 'wants the national spotlight'

Gov. Tim Walz returned location from the run way to a divided authorities legislature. Minnesota’s nationalist cognition of the erstwhile vice statesmanlike Democratic nominee is conscionable arsenic split. 

Walz ended 2024 with implicit $1 cardinal successful run cash, year-end run concern reports show. The bluish partition authorities politician raised the bulk of those funds earlier joining Vice President Kamala Harris’ statesmanlike ticket, wherever helium wore his camo hats and middle-class presumption arsenic a badge of honor. 

Walz has not formally announced whether helium volition question a 3rd word for politician but said helium volition apt marque a determination this summer. A spokesperson said Walz is focused connected starring a divided authorities legislature successful the meantime. 

"Regardless of the chaos unfolding successful Washington, D.C., Governor Walz volition proceed moving with Republicans and Democrats astatine the State Capitol to equilibrium the fund and marque Minnesota the champion authorities to live, work, and rise a family," Walz’s spokesperson said successful a statement.

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While Walz says helium is committed to moving crossed the aisle, Minnesota’s authorities location has spent weeks astatine a standstill. Republicans projected a callback of their Democratic colleagues for failing to amusement up to work. 

"They technically had the organizational bulk to footwear disconnected connected Jan. 14 erstwhile we began our legislative session," Republican authorities Sen. Mark Koran said. "The Democrats refused to. They held a peculiar swearing-in ceremonial successful concealed for their 66 members, and past they've refused for implicit 3 weeks present to amusement up to the Minnesota House to organize, truthful they tin bash business."

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Koran said Walz has been missing successful action, telling Fox Digital that the politician is thing but bipartisan.

"He is nonexistent arsenic acold arsenic the Democrats holding this hostage," Koran said. "He's not taking a enactment role. I tin archer you astir the lone happening helium does successful a bipartisan mode is helium doesn't enactment with Republicans oregon Democrats, and truthful he's precise isolated and doesn't conscionable with anybody."

Walz defended Minnesota Democrats for boycotting their legislative league successful an interrogation with FOX 9 KMSP, elevating the authorities struggle to the nationalist level by taking purpose astatine DOGE’s ongoing national layoffs. 

"We are not going to let you to bash what we’re seeing astatine the national level. You are not going to spell successful and occurrence authorities employees. You are not going to instrumentality powerfulness successful a short-term model of gap. That’s not what the voters voted for," Walz said.

Minnesota Republicans told Fox Digital that controversies connected the run way person tarnished his estimation backmost home. Walz’s inheritance dominated headlines this summer; implicit claims of "stolen valor" for inconsistencies describing his subject service, saying helium "misspoke" erstwhile helium said helium visited Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, and implicit his family's successful vitro fertilization communicative that ne'er was. Walz laughed disconnected the missteps, calling himself a "knucklehead."

"The mean Minnesotans didn't truly cognize who Tim Walz was," retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel told Fox Digital. "With moving for vice president, radical abruptly realized this feline is not who truthful galore of america thought helium was. He’s not this blessed grandpa teacher that wears plaid. He is an idiosyncratic that wants to support his power. He's lied to marque himself look better.

"Walz's ego is bruised," Nagel added. "He is not blessed that he's not walking astir arsenic vice president."

Nagel and Koran agreed the nationalist reporting during the statesmanlike run made Minnesotans deliberation doubly astir Walz. 

"I deliberation Minnesotans should cull his governmental agenda, conscionable arsenic the federation did. He came backmost extraordinarily damaged. The Democrats are going to instrumentality him retired wrong his ain party, apt successful the adjacent gubernatorial primary. There's a Senate spot unfastened successful Minnesota. He wants the nationalist spotlight. At the extremity of the day, if helium has thing else, I deliberation he'll beryllium moving for politician again," Koran said.

Newly elected DNC Chair Ken Martin, erstwhile seat of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, said successful a connection that Republicans "have tried to teardrop down Governor Walz" but the politician has maintained the spot of Minnesota voters by delivering cardinal progressive policy. 

"Partisan Republicans person tried to teardrop down Governor Walz, but the enactment and spot that helium has earned from Minnesotans has endured," Martin said. "From escaped schoolhouse meals to paid household leave, the working-class docket that Governor Walz and DFL leaders person championed enjoys beardown enactment from a wide bulk of Minnesotans. Our enactment is acceptable to combat with Governor Walz to little costs portion protecting captious investments successful our schools and the programs that enactment moving families."