Thank you Gov. Walz

I am both angry and sad to learn that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will not run for re-election. 

The anger I feel is because the firehose of lies about Walz and my home state seem to have worked. I don't fault Walz for getting out - he and his family have been dealing with this sh*t for years now. They deserve a break. I blame every MAGA who jumped on the bandwagon - regardless of whether they were motivated by Walz himself, their hatred of immigrants, their desire to dismantle our social safety net, or all three.

But there is a sadness about all of this as well. That's because, over the years, I've come to respect Tim Walz and his family. The Minnesota Indivisible Alliance captured a lot of the reasons why.

Tim Walz didn’t enter politics chasing power. He came in because the kids he taught forced him to think that he— a teacher, a Guardsman, a coach —owed the country something. He won a deep-red congressional district by showing up and listening.

When he ran for governor, he ran on steadiness, competence, and “One Minnesota” on the promise that there was no we/them but one us. ..

In 2022, reelection and a Democratic trifecta allowed him to get stuff done. Allied with Melissa Hortman and Kari Dzic they got: abortion rights codified into law, expanded paid family and medical leave, universal free school meals, and gun safety measures. Hard, quiet work that improved lives.

Then Kamala Harris picked Walz to be her running mate in 2024, bringing us moments like this:

That election will go down in history as one of the biggest mistakes this country has ever made. I didn't know that this happened after that loss:

After the [VP] run, Tim Walz had been thinking about stepping away. In private conversations with Melissa Hortman, he confided he was considering not running again in 2026 and urged her to consider doing so. After her sudden death, he carried on.

That makes this moment at a vigil for Hortman even more poignant.

I join MN Indivisible in this:

So we close this chapter of his life by saying, while the country may remember the politician, we’ll remember the neighbors..

The guy walking his dog in the neighborhood.
The wife shopping in local stores.
The daughter working at a homeless shelter.
The son playing volleyball with joy.

The man cheering on marathoners, reading to kids, stopping for a Juicy Lucy — moments that remind us behind every public image are real people living real lives.

So this is a thank you.
For serving our country
For carrying a job that changed underneath him and not walking away.

From me, this one goes out to the Walz family today: