Jan 5 (Reuters) – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will not seek a third term in office, he announced on Monday, saying he would instead focus on allegations of fraud in the state’s welfare system that has become a political crisis for him after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Walz, a 61-year-old former teacher and coach, became governor of the Midwestern state in 2019, and gained a new national prominence last year when he became the running mate of then U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate who lost to Trump in the 2024 election.
In recent days, the Trump administration has singled out Walz and Minnesota, including its large population of Somali Americans and Somali immigrants, over allegations of fraud, dating back to 2020, by nonprofit groups that administer the state’s childcare and other social services programs with support from federal funding.
In his announcement, Walz referred to the fraud allegations as a crisis, and that he wanted “let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.” The election is in November.
“For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity,” Walz said in his statement. “And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis.”
He said Trump and his political allies “want to make our state a colder, meaner place.”
The Trump administration, which has vowed to deport more immigrants than any prior administration, has singled out Minnesota for investigations and in social media posts, alleging rampant fraud is being committed by immigrants in the welfare system.
Administration officials have frequently and sharply criticized the state’s Somali communities, as well as Walz, and Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American Democrat who represents a Minneapolis-based district in Congress.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski)
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