Gov. Tim Walz presented Minnesota’s Thanksgiving turkey at the Capitol on Nov. 26, 2024. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday presented Minnesota’s Thanksgiving turkey — rather than a presidential pardon, it received a gubernatorial condemnation; the bird will be eaten — and many local reporters were eager to ask the governor a variety of questions after being iced out for months while he was campaigning with Vice President Kamala Harris.
It’s been about three weeks since Walz’s failed bid for vice president, and in recent days the governor has eased back into regular public events where media can ask him on- and off-topic questions.
The Reformer compiled Walz’s answers to various questions in the past few days, including his reflections on his time campaigning with Harris; comments on a judge’s recent decision to delay a lottery for cannabis licenses; and how he’s thinking about coming back to Minnesota with a divided Legislature.
On whether he has any regrets agreeing to be Harris’ running mate, Walz said ‘no’:
“No regrets. I regret few things in life, other than I didn’t get a dog sooner,” Walz said. “No, I’m proud to have been part of that. I think we put a message out that 75 million Americans liked, but not quite enough … I was just glad to be out there … glad to tell Minnesota’s story — that we get things done together and we’re pretty hopeful people.”
Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar told the Star Tribune that the Harris-Walz campaign message wasn’t progressive enough and that appealing to Republicans with people like former Rep. Liz Cheny was a mistake. (Omar performed worse than the Harris-Walz ticket in her congressional district.) He was asked about her remarks.
“No response,” Walz said.
A judge delayed the Office of Cannabis Management’s social equity lottery — scheduled to take place Tuesday — after several people alleged they were unlawfully denied from participating in it. The lottery is intended to prioritize business applications from people who have been harmed by marijuana prohibition in the past, as well as veterans and people living in high-poverty areas:
“This is the way, I guess, the system works. We followed … the way the law was written by the Legislature. I feel very confident that we were able to do that,” Walz said.
On whether the Office of Cannabis Management is facilitating the lottery well:
“They’re doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing … They indicated that there were folks that had incomplete, or inaccurate or, in some cases, blatantly misleading in their application,” Walz said.
Minnesota Democrats lost their House majority, which ended their unified control over state government. The House will now be tied 67-67 between Republicans and Democrats, and leaders from both parties are working to put together a power-sharing agreement. Was losing the House majority a rejection of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor policies passed over the past two years:
“No, I see a very close and divided country, and the election was a couple back and forth. I think the same way you could say we held the Senate, so that’s an affirmation of the policies we have,” Walz said. “You have a very divided electorate. I’m proud that the people of Minnesota chose us here again when they had an opportunity at the top of the ticket, but we’re going to have some opportunities to continue to move in the positive direction we’ve gone … Minnesotans are … still supportive of those moves, closely divided here, just like it is across the country.”
On whether Walz will run for governor again in 2026:
“I’m just glad to be back right now, so we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said.