Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announces he won’t run for re-election

Jan. 5 (UPI) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that he won’t seek election for a third term.

Walz said he needs to focus on the fraud allegations instead of running a campaign. He said in a statement that “the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win.”

“But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all,” Walz said. “Every minute I spend defending my own political interests 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 prey on our differences. So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

Walz ran for vice president in 2024 alongside presidential nominee Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket. He was the favorite to win in this year’s gubernatorial election.

In December, a viral YouTube video by Nick Shirley titled “I Investigated Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal” alleged that Somali fraudsters created fake daycare centers with state money.

The video spurred the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to stop all funding to Minnesota child-care centers pending a federal review.

Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families said it investigated and found that all the facilities were “operating as expected.”

Walz addressed the fraud allegations in his statement.

“For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis,” Walz said in a statement.

“I won’t mince words here. [President] Donald Trump and his allies — in Washington, in St. Paul, and online — want to make our state a colder, meaner place. They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. … Make no mistake: We should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve made systemic changes to the way we do business.”

He touted the moves the state government has taken to fight the fraud.

“There’s more to do. A single taxpayer dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar too much to tolerate. And while there’s a role to play for everyone — from the legislature to prosecutors to insurance companies to local and county governments — the buck stops with me. My administration is taking fast, decisive action to solve this crisis. And we will win the fight against the fraudsters.”

Walz didn’t hold back against Republicans.

“We’ve got Republicans here in the legislature playing hide-and-seek with whistleblowers. We’ve got conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into daycare centers and demanding access to our children.

“We’ve got the president of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating child-care funding that Minnesotans rely on.

“It is disgusting. And it is dangerous.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is considering running for governor, a source close to the senator told NBC News. The source said the senator hasn’t made a decision. If she stays in the Senate, she will not be up for re-election until 2030.