By Michael Gryboski, Editor Monday, January 05, 2026Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Former Democrat vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz announced Monday that he will not seek a third term as governor of Minnesota, amid an investigation into the ongoing Somali immigrant daycare fraud scandal.
In a statement released Monday morning, Walz said that while he had originally announced last September that he would run for reelection, “I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all.”
“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” stated Walz.
“So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work. … I know this news may come as a surprise. But I’m passing on the race with zero sadness and zero regret.”
Walz denounced both the “organized group of criminals” who “have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity” and the “organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis.”
“We should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve made systemic changes to the way we do business,” he continued.
“But the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win. … We’ve got conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into daycare centers and demanding access to our children. … We’ve got the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on.”
Walz also talked about the importance of “servant leadership,” noting that he hoped “that my friends on the other side of the aisle will consider what servant leadership demands of them in this moment.”
“We can work together to combat the criminals, rebuild the public’s trust, and make our state stronger,” he added. “But make no mistake: If Republicans continue down this path of abusing power, smearing entire communities, and running their own fraudulent game at the expense of Minnesotans — we will fight back every step of the way.”
Elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and reelected in 2022, Walz was the vice-presidential running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, who received the nomination without participating in a Democratic primary.
Walz was known for advancing progressive policies, including the expansion of abortion access and adding menstruation products in public school bathrooms for boys, leading to the pejorative nickname “Tampon Tim.”
Recently, his administration has garnered criticism for allegedly failing to properly respond to widespread fraud among childcare centers, many of which are overseen by Somali immigrants.
YouTube creator and independent journalist Nick Shirley garnered widespread attention when he tried to visit a Somali-run daycare center, including one that claimed to have 99 children enrolled and received millions of dollars in government money to look after said children, yet none appeared to be present at the facility.
In a 42-minute video, the 23-year-old Shirley claimed to have uncovered more than $110 million in fraud from the daycare centers in a single day in Minnesota alone.
Vice President JD Vance was among those who praised Shirley’s video on X, claiming that he “has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the” 2024 Pulitzer Prize.
Late last month, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze around $185 million in federal childcare payments to Minnesota in response to the fraud allegations.
“We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade,” stated Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill.
For his part, Walz argued that the freezing of funds was politically-motivated, alleging that it was “a transparent attempt to politicize the issue to hurt Minnesotans and defund government programs that help people.”
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