Tim Walz was nearly elected vice president in 2024. Just 14 months later, the Minnesota governor is ending his political career amid scandal, personal burnout and feuds with former allies — including Kamala Harris.
Why it matters: It's a stunning downfall for a man who vaulted onto the national stage less than two years ago and had been flirting with a 2028 run for president.
Zoom out: Walz announced Monday that he was ending his bid for a third term as governor, saying that a campaign would distract him from being effective in his last year in office.
- His move came amid increasing scrutiny of alleged fraud in social services programs — and a barrage of attacks from the Trump administration — that led some anxious Democrats to question whether he could win another statewide election.
Walz has struggled personally and politically since former Vice President Harris picked him to be her running mate on the Democratic ticket in the summer of 2024.
- The sudden national scrutiny of the Democrats' new candidate revealed that Walz had embellished parts of his biography — statements he spent much of the campaign trying to clean up.
- Walz and Harris also have spent the past year subtly pointing fingers at one another about their abbreviated campaign for the White House.
- "We shouldn't have been playing this thing so safe," he said last March.
In her recent book "107 Days," Harris recalled her exasperation watching Walz debate JD Vance, writing that Walz "felt bad he hadn't done better."
- "In choosing Tim, I thought that as a second-term governor and 12-year congressman he would know what he was getting into," Harris wrote. "In hindsight, how could anyone?"
- Harris released a statement Monday evening lauding Walz and saying the two had talked earlier in the day.
A source close to Walz pushed back against the idea that stumbles during his vice presidential bid impacted his political prospects, but acknowledged his heightened profile made him a target for the right. Zoom in: Shortly after the 2024 election, Walz had a falling out with Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a longtime ally, amid his frustration over her plan to succeed him. They've stayed away from each other in public since then.
- More recently, Walz was engulfed by the ever-growing scandal in Minnesota, largely involving people of Somali descent allegedly defrauding the state and federal government of hundreds of millions of dollars through social services programs.
- He tried to focus on what his administration had been doing to combat the problem, but the controversy continued to grow in recent months.
- "This [was] on my watch," Walz said last month. "I am accountable for this, and more importantly, I am the one that will fix it."
Minnesota Democrats were increasingly worried the controversy could doom Walz's reelection campaign — and their chances in other crucial races.
- "I would be at events, and Democrats would come up to me and tell me that they thought that Walz was going to have a really difficult time getting reelected," said Minnesota state Rep. Tina Liebling, a Democrat.
Between the lines: Walz also has struggled with grief since the assassination last summer of Minnesota House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home.
- Walz has since acknowledged that he saw Hortman as a potential successor. "I talked to her about being governor," he told KARE 11 in July.
- "This building feels different," Walz said of the state Capitol. "I am still struggling working here."
- After Hortman was killed Walz became more ambivalent about a reelection bid, but some state party leaders urged him to run to avoid a messy primary.
The big picture: Walz's departure from the governor's race also shakes up the early jockeying for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who previously ran for president and could have run again, is now seriously considering a run for governor — likely precluding a 2028 campaign.
- Walz had been prepping like a potential presidential candidate, including by embarking on a national tour. But by withdrawing from his reelection campaign, he likely has closed the door on a presidential campaign, too.
