What will happen to Tim Walz after Donald Trump's win of presidential election?
MINNEAPOLIS — Former President Donald Trump's projected win of the presidency has many in Minnesota wondering what the next steps will be for Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
Walz, 60, will return to his state Wednesday evening and continue to serve his second term as governor of Minnesota. Peggy Flanagan, who would have stepped into the governorship had Walz's ticket won, will remain lieutenant governor.
Walz has two years left on his term. For the remainder of the term, he may have a harder time getting policies passed compared to the accomplishments made during the landmark 2023 session.
As of now, control for the Minnesota House is up in the air after Republicans were able to flip three seats, with several other races likely heading to a recount — meaning the Democratic "trifecta" of power in the state is in doubt.
Larry Jacobs, a politics professor at the University of Minnesota, took it a step further.
"The wheels of the DFL progressive bus just came to a screeching halt," he said. "The DFL is not going to be able to move big budgets and big programmatic ideas as they did in 2023. The Republicans are either going to have a tie in the House, in which case they can stymie things, or they'll have the majority in which they'll vote down whatever the DFL sends them that involves more taxes, more spending, more regulation. So this is a big, big win for the Republicans."
Walz has not indicated whether or not he would run again for governor of Minnesota if his vice presidential bid failed.
Walz provided a final address on a national platform before the election on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday night, where he underscored the Vice President Kamala Harris campaign's focus on Pennsylvania, the hotly contested battleground state that Trump eventually won, along with its 19 electoral votes.
During a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin earlier that day, Walz told the audience that if Harris and he defeat Trump, voters "aren't ever going to have to see this guy on TV again and listen to him."
Walz stressed the future of American democracy is at stake.
"The thing is upon us now, folks. I know there is a lot of anxiety. The decisions over the next 24-36 hours will shape not just the next four years, they will shape the coming generations," Walz said.
During his time as governor, Walz experienced several major crises. In his first term, he faced harsh criticism from Republicans amid the dual dilemmas of the COVID-19 pandemic and the violent uprising that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.
Before serving as governor, Walz led Minnesota's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2006 to 2019. Prior to his political career, the Nebraska native served in the Army National Guard for nearly a quarter century.
Harris is planning on delivering remarks Wednesday afternoon from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Walz will not be at the event.
