Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz launches campaign for third term: 'I’m staying in the fight'

Saying that he's "not done yet," Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, on Tuesday launched a campaign for a third term as Minnesota governor.

"We’ve made historic progress in our state, but we’re not done yet," Walz wrote in a social media post.

And taking a jab at President Donald Trump and his administration, Walz said in a campaign launch video that "I'll never stop fighting to protect us from the chaos, corruption and cruelty coming out of Washington."

"I’ve seen how we help each other through the hard times," Walz added. "And boy, we’ve seen terrible times this year. I’m heartbroken and angry about the beautiful people we lost to gun violence. But it’s in these moments we have to come together. We can’t lose hope because I’ve seen what we can do when we work together."

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Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday announced his bid for a third term as governor of Minnesota. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate after she replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democrats' national ticket last summer.

Taking aim at Trump and his running mate, now-Vice President JD Vance, Walz criticized the GOP ticket as "just weird."

But Trump ended up sweeping all seven key battleground states in last year's presidential election to win back the White House.

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This year, Walz has kept up his verbal critiques of Trump as the governor has continued to build his national profile.

But the 61-year-old governor was heavily criticized by Republicans after comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Nazi Germany's Gestapo. The governor was called out by congressional Republicans during a June hearing, but he refused to apologize.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz walk out on stage for a campaign event on Aug. 6, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach, is often mentioned as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, but he told Axios this summer that he wouldn't seek the White House if he ran for re-election as governor in 2026.

His three months as Harris' running mate put Walz under the glare of the national political spotlight, and brought new scrutiny about his record as governor, and before that as a congressman, and his handling of the violent protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He was also criticized for exaggerating his rank during his years with the Minnesota National Guard, and was faulted for leaving the military to run for Congress ahead of his unit being deployed to the war in Iraq.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting, on Aug. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Paul Steinhauser - Fox News)

Walz was first elected governor in 2018, winning by 11 percentage points. He won re-election in 2022 by an 8-point margin.

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But he'll be bucking history as he runs again in 2026. No Minnesota governor has won a third consecutive term since the state switched to four-year terms six decades ago.

Former business executive and Army veteran Kendall Qualls and physician and former state Sen. Scott Jensen, the 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee, are among the candidates running for the Republican nomination.