In six years, Tim Walz took our state budget from $44 billion to $70 billion, squandered a $19 billion surplus and turned it into a deficit even though Minnesotans overwhelmingly wanted tax cuts, raised taxes by $10 billion, increased state government spending by 40%, adopted a California emissions standard, created more government mandates and regulation including expensive leave policies, welcomed illegal immigrants and gave them drivers licenses, and cemented Minnesota as a sanctuary state, to name a few of his accomplishments.
The waste, fraud, and abuse in Walz’s administration shows just what his leadership could bring to Washington, D.C. He failed at government oversight of a massive Feeding Our Futures scandal, and another Walz administration program is under FBI investigation for potential fraud – the program saw 3,000% growth over the period of just a few years.
Minnesota started following in California’s footsteps as a liberal bastion in the Midwest. Our neighboring states reaped the benefits. In two years, Minnesota lost more than 50,000 residents – and not to warmer states like Florida, but the majority moved to Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas – all with much friendlier economic policies and lower cost of living. IRS data shows Minnesota lost $2.1 billion in income migration, which will likely only be accelerated when Walz-approved taxes on businesses and high-income earners go into effect.
Two years ago, Tim Walz ran for reelection as an unpopular sitting governor. COVID-19 and Walz’s handling of it was very fresh in our minds. At the same time, Minneapolis and surrounding cities were literally burning after George Floyd’s murder accelerated the Defund the Police movement, during which there was no leadership from our governor.
When Walz first ran for governor, he had positioned himself as a hokey member of Congress, a former educator with bad dad jokes. Now he had a record. Many thought he would be a one-term governor. What happened is very Minnesota Nice of Republicans.
I’ve worked in Republican politics for a long time, at the Republican National Committee and on campaigns in Minnesota and across the country. I have never seen such a futile effort to replace an unpopular sitting Democrat governor than when Tim Walz was reelected in 2022.
As governor, Walz kept his COVID emergency powers in place for 400 days, was an empty plaid shirt when Minneapolis burned after George Floyd’s death, oversaw historic crime rates as a radical anti-police movement was encouraged by the Democrat party, brought the fifth-highest taxes in the country, and had more people leaving the state than moving to it. And he was reelected.
There were two lessons from the 2022 election cycle that allowed Tim Walz to catapult to the vice presidential nomination.
First was the Minnesota Republican Party nearly single-handedly reelecting him with their broken endorsement process that they protect at all costs.
In 2022, there was a wide field of Republicans who were exceptionally qualified to take on Tim Walz. Instead of one of those candidates becoming the nominee, the convention endorsement process – that allows a couple thousand of the most right-wing Republican delegates to make the decision for the masses – nominated a candidate who couldn’t be elected statewide.
Because of a gentleman’s agreement that says candidates will “respect the endorsement” and drop out of the primary after the convention, there was no actual primary that allowed the rest of the Republican Party to have a say on their nominee. So unfortunately, Minnesota was left with a false choice – Tim Walz, who wasn’t as moderate as he pretended, or someone who was automatically labeled as extreme.
The second lesson was a passive-aggressive Minnesota press corps that gave Tim Walz a pass. They let him talk out of both sides of his mouth and pretend to be something he wasn’t. They allowed the Democrats to completely change the size and scope of government in Minnesota unchecked.
He shouldn’t get the same treatment nationally as he did in Minnesota. As many of us say, he will have his turn in the barrel where he’ll be getting questions from all sides. It will be the first time he will be tested.
Walz’s approval rating before COVID-19 was 65%, and by 2021 he was under 50%. Today, he’s at 48%. There are many reasons why, and they should be examined for all Americans to see.
Walz and Kamala Harris are doing their best to ride out their honeymoon. I don’t blame them. National Democrats will find they have one of the most untested and liberal tickets we have ever seen. Walz’s old congressional district is made up of the exact voters who oppose him today, and they vote a lot like Western Wisconsin.
Now we will see if Donald Trump can be disciplined enough to expose it.
Kirsten Kukowski is a former Republican National Committee press secretary and was communications director for former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign in 2016. She runs K2 and Company, a public affairs company based in Minnesota where she lives and works.
