With Republican pickups both nationally and in his home state, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is searching for the right balance when preparing to push back against GOP priorities, while also showing that he's willing to work with them on issues important to middle class voters.
After Democrats lost the presidential election, Walz is now back home working out of the state capitol in St. Paul, Minn., where he recently described the one question that keeps him up at night - why more voters chose President-elect Donald Trump, who Walz described as a billionaire, rather than the Democratic presidential ticket.
"I thought it was a real flex when the Wall Street Journal pointed out that I might have been the least wealthy person to ever run for vice president," Walz said in an interview with MPR's Dana Ferguson last week. A Wall Street Journal story published in August noted that he and his wife, Gwen, had less wealth than most recent vice presidential candidates with a net worth between $112,003 to $330,000, not including pensions. "And I thought that would be something people say, 'Well, this guy knows where we're coming from. He's had to pay his bills, he had to and still does.'"
Walking a political tightrope
Walz catapulted to the national spotlight in August after Vice President Harris selected him as her running mate, praising his Midwest dad energy. He began his political career representing a moderate, rural Congressional district in Minnesota and then went on to pass many Democratic priorities as governor.
With full Democratic control of the state legislature in 2023, Walz helped pass bills that he promoted along the campaign trail, which gave protections to certain immigrant populations, transgender people and codified the right to abortion in the state. He also signed bills that legalized recreational marijuana in the state and provided free meals to schoolchildren.
While Walz thought this record would appeal to middle class voters, he now acknowledges there was a disconnect in how many voters viewed the Democratic presidential ticket and how he thought he would be perceived.
"There were folks that weren't voting for us who would be the very folks that I care that our policies impact," Walz said.
Minnesota was one of the few Midwest states Trump did not win this year. But state Democrats will need to rely on some votes from Republicans next year. The party lost its full control of state government in November. Barring a couple court challenges, the two major parties are tied in the state House of Representatives and will have to share power.
"I'm actually thinking this could be a productive session if we don't retreat to our particular corners," Walz said, pointing to legislation passed during his first term as governor working with a divided legislature. "And I'm already saying, I'm coming to the table, telling you that things are on the table if you want to work to find these solutions."
Walz thinks there are a number of areas he can focus on as governor that can show middle class voters the importance of Democratic-led legislation including paid family and medical leave, affordable daycare and access to preventative health care.
Yet his expressed willingness to work with Republicans on issues that mattered to voters in the election, like the economy and immigration, is in contrast to some public remarks since Election Day where he's also vowed to push back against the Trump administration.
"The moment they try to bring a hateful agenda into this state, I'm going to stand ready to stand up and fight for the way we do things here," Walz told a crowd of supporters at an Eagan, Minn. high school days after the general election.
Walz tells MPR there are redlines where he would fight against potential Republican actions, including any that restrict abortion access or those aimed at ending vaccine requirements in Minnesota's public schools.
Some see Minnesota as a blue state 'firewall'
"[Minnesota] is a beacon for surrounding states, for those seeking reproductive and gender affirming care, for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and for immigrants and refugees, but the bottom line is more needs to be done," said Deepinder Mayell, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
After Trump's election, Mayell called on Gov. Walz to open a special session of the Minnesota legislature to pass legislation to build a "firewall to insulate vulnerable communities," something California Gov. Gavin Newsom did in his state.
Walz was asked at a press conference meant to highlight the state's turkey industry ahead of Thanksgiving if he intended to bring lawmakers back to St. Paul before next year.
"I have no intention of calling a special legislative session," Walz told reporters and then quickly pivoted to the event's purpose.
"Let's get the turkey up here," he said as a local turkey farmer hoisted a nearly 42-pound live turkey onto the table.
Walz didn't discuss the reasons why he chose not to hold a special session during that event. In the interview with Minnesota Public Radio last week he says he has a role in pushing back against Trump and wants to help him succeed if he intends to improve people's lives.
"If he truly says he's going to lower the cost of groceries for people, I'm all in with him. I'll do whatever I can to make that possible," Walz said. "But I also have a responsibility and the Republican Party knows this, with states' rights, to protect the things that we care about here."
Democratic AGs not getting ahead of Trump's inauguration
During Trump's first administration, blue states sought to resist some of his policies by fighting them in court.
Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison says he's been talking regularly with other Democratic state AGs about their strategy ahead of Trump's second term but isn't about to take "anticipatory action" over things he's said on the campaign trail.
"Maybe it was all campaign talk. We'll see," Ellison said. "But I'm also going to be ready."
Ellison said he's preparing for Trump to issue executive orders on day one, touching on anything from labor to immigration.
"When I go before court, we're going to have a real case of controversy, which Minnesotans have a stake in and that's when we're going to show up to confront this stuff," Ellison said.
The politics of immigration is something that Minnesotan Jesus Garcia Garcia has been following for most of his life. The 30-year-old is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. That bars deportation of immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. In a recent interview with NBC, the President-elect said he would like to "work something out" to keep 'Dreamers' in the U.S.
For now, Garcia Garcia, a University of Minnesota PhD student studying a rare bone cancer, says he's just focused on his research.
"At the end of the day, I just have to keep looking forward. This is not about Trump. This is not about the government. This is in reality, this is about patients that are suffering."
Garcia Garcia said he's felt welcome in Minnesota since he moved to the state as a 7 year old with his family from Mexico.
"We're grateful to call Minnesota home," he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic governors, like Walz, will be figuring out what kind of power states like his have as Trump steps back into the White House.
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