Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz lamented losing the 2024 race for the first time in a series of local media interviews this week, with the Democrat admitting he was a “little surprised” that he and Vice President Kamala Harris were defeated.
“It felt like at the rallies, at the things I was going to, the shops I was going in, that the momentum was going our way, and it obviously wasn’t at the end,” Walz told KSTP.
“So yeah, I was a little surprised. I thought we had a positive message, and I thought the country was ready for that.”
The Minnesotan’s assessment cuts against that of several Harris campaign aides, who spilled in an interview on “Pod Save America” that internal poll numbers never showed her ahead of former President Donald Trump.
Walz, 60, also addressed the criticism some Democrats made about him being chosen as Harris’ running mate over rising stars in the party like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose popularity may have helped their ticket win in the swing state.
“History will write that,” he dodged when asked by KSTP whether he helped or hurt Harris’ ticket.
“It wasn’t my decision to make. It was the vice president’s decision,” he went on. “As I said in this campaign, when you asked the question, ‘Were there things you could have done differently?’ Since we lost, the answer is obviously yes. On this one, I did the best I could.”
Walz did not reveal what exactly he intends to do at the end of his second term in Minnesota — including whether he will make a third run for governor in a state with no term limits.
“I think it’s a little too early to tell,” Walz told Fox 9. “We’re focusing on an upcoming legislative session. Keep continuing to work on that and then we’ll decide from there.”
He added to KSTP: “What I’ve always said is that has more to do with where the people are at. If there’s a desire that it might make sense if they’d like to see us run again, we’d talk to folks, but at this time, I’m just trying to get through the session.”
Walz did tell the outlet he has never had the desire to run for US Senate.
He also reflected on what he thinks Democrats will have to do differently to take back the White House and both chambers of Congress after such a resounding Republican win.
“I think what we have to understand is the mood where people are at and understanding where they’re at,” Walz told WCCO. “I think economic issues did impact them.”
“I think we’re going to have to understand — what type of leadership do they want?” he asked.
“We were pledging to be inclusive. We were pledging to bring people in. Donald Trump has said that that isn’t what he wants, and so if that’s what America is leaning towards, I guess for me, it’s to understand and learn more about America because I thought that they were going to probably move towards a more positive message,” he added.
Walz vanished almost immediately from the national stage after the electoral shellacking on Nov. 5 — but posted a weird video Thursday night tinkering with a “22-year-old little E-series BMW” in his freezing Minnesota garage.
“Kind of a neat little car,” the governor said without emotion. “Replacing the switches here. … They just didn’t work anymore, it didn’t pull ’em up.”
He also boasted about having replaced the car’s radio with an auxiliary cable input to play music from an iPhone.
“So you can keep this $5,000 classic on the road, listen to good music and, uh, roll the windows up and down,” he added. “There you go.”
Critics noted in the heat of the 2024 race that the so-called “folksy” governor had difficulty even loading his own shotgun while hunting pheasant — despite being an avowed firearms enthusiast.
