MINNEAPOLIS — Tim Walz won a second term as Minnesota governor on Tuesday night, defeating Republican opponent Scott Jensen and cementing Democratic control of the executive branch for the longest consecutive period in state history.
Walz's win defied a challenging midterm environment for his party and followed a tumultuous first term, where he contended with a COVID-19 pandemic and the destruction in Minneapolis that followed George Floyd's killing. Over the next four years, the Democrat will wield influence over the biggest issues facing the state, including how to spend a historic multibillion-dollar budget surplus.
"Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan faced unprecedented challenges during their time in office, but they led Minnesota with courage, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the well-being of all Minnesotans," DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin said shortly after the race was called.
The election capped a contentious and expensive campaign, with candidates and outside groups pouring nearly $30 million into the race to influence the outcome. The winner will lead two dozen state agencies for the next four years and wield influence over the biggest issues facing the state, including how to spend a historic multibillion-dollar budget surplus.
Not immediately clear was the distribution of power in the state Legislature. The outcome there will have a major influence on Walz's second-term agenda.
Walz and Jensen debated for months on abortion access, the economy and crime, while painting a dire portrait of the future of the state if the other is elected. Those issues were on voters' minds as they headed to the polls.
"I'm doing my diligence to elect who I think can make the choices and changes I want," said Amanda Cunningham, who cast her ballot for Walz on Tuesday in Hermantown. "Reelecting Walz is a top priority for women's rights."
Democrats gathering in St. Paul for an election night party were cautiously optimistic about Walz's chances. In St. Louis Park, Republicans gathered at the party's event cheered at early polling results showing GOP candidates leading in some statewide races. They were heartened by reports of high turnout in conservative areas of the state.
Jensen, who served one term in the state Senate, rose to prominence in the Republican Party through frequent appearances on Fox News voicing outspoken distrust of pandemic death counts. He launched his campaign in March 2021 and continued to grow support with conservatives through his skepticism of vaccines and mask mandates. He tapped former Viking Matt Birk to his ticket and soon after secured the GOP endorsement.
As crime rates rose, Jensen blamed Walz's administration for policies he said contributed. He landed the endorsement from the state's largest professional organization for police officers, and the Republican Governors Association funded a final-week ad blitz attacking Walz for not acting sooner after riots broke out in Minneapolis following George Floyd's killing.
"I don't like all the crime that's going on," said Martha Reishus, 64, of St. Cloud. She said she voted for Jensen because she didn't like how Walz handled pandemic restrictions and the riots. "I grew up in (Minneapolis') Third Precinct and when I saw that whole area burning and all those radical idiots being allowed to burn that stuff, that was the end for me."
Ranger Crofton, 67, of Rochester said he voted against Walz in part because he felt Walz didn't get enough police officers on the streets quickly enough to address the riots in Minneapolis.
"Him and the rest of his cronies need to be voted out of office," Crofton said. "They've got no business running our government."
But the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June gave Democrats an opening to go on offense against Jensen, who previously said he would work to ban abortion if elected governor. Jensen shifted his position after Roe was overturned, saying abortion was constitutionally protected in Minnesota through a state Supreme Court ruling and he wouldn't try to change that as governor.
Still, Walz made defending abortion access a centerpiece of his reelection bid, and state and national Democratic groups spent millions on television ads attacking Jensen for his earlier comments on abortion.
When it came to the state budget, both candidates promised to cut taxes using a historic surplus lawmakers left unspent last session. But Walz, a former school teacher, continued his push for more funding for classrooms and criticized past comments from Jensen saying he'd cut funding for public schools.
Gene Bailey, a retired 87-year-old charter bus driver from Duluth, said Tuesday was the first time he'd chosen a Democrat for governor.
"Walz is doing all right, and Jensen is against abortion and education money," he said. "I think abortion should be a woman's right; it should be between her and her doctor and her family. Do I want abortion? Not really. But that's her decision to make, not mine."
Walz led in the polls and had more resources to spend than Jensen throughout the campaign, but he faced national headwinds with Democrats in power in Washington. He also alienated some voters through sweeping executive action he took during the pandemic. Walz and other governors around the country closed schools and some businesses and instituted mask mandates to try and slow the spread of the virus.
The governor defended his response to the pandemic during the campaign, arguing he acted quickly with the best information available. He earned a rare endorsement from a political group representing thousands of doctors, who said Jensen's views on COVID-19 and abortion were far from where most Minnesotans stood.
The polarizing governor's race left some voters conflicted on Tuesday. Lakeville resident Brian Jensen, 44, said pandemic school closures were a major issue for him. His daughter's high school transition to remote learning made her more withdrawn and prompted him to pay closer attention to the news. But neither of the top gubernatorial candidates got his vote.
"I don't like the politics of Jensen, Birk. And I think Gov. Walz needs to leave, and leave as fast as possible," he said. "And I know that one of those two is going to be the winner, so it's a little disappointing, but that's life sometimes."
(Staff writers Trey Mewes, Katelyn Vue, Christa Lawler, Jana Hollingsworth and Jenny Berg contributed to this report.)
