In a campaign launch speech to hundreds of supporters at The Depot in downtown Minneapolis on Friday night, Gov. Tim Walz said he would use an unprecedented third four-year term in office to enact stricter gun laws and protect the state from what he called the “nightmare” of the second Trump administration.
While Walz has not introduced any new significant policy proposals since officially announcing his candidacy, he has touted his achievements as governor, including funding boosts for K-12 education, worker protections, and the passage of gun safety measures like universal background checks.
On Friday, he asked voters for more time to finish work, including new gun laws.
“We have some unfinished business to attend to,” he told supporters. “We’ve made important strides. … We’ve expanded background checks, we’ve added red flag laws and we funded mental health care — but it’s not even close to enough,” Walz told his supporters.
“As governor, I’m going to use the power of this office to figure out how to help stop this bloodshed,” he continued.
Much could change between now and the election in November 2026, but in its earliest phases, top issues in the race for Minnesota governor include addressing significant fraud in social programs and whether to pass new gun control legislation in the wake of the June assassinations of former House speaker Melissa Hotman and the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis in August.
Walz’s initial campaign pitch is focused on preserving gains made during his first two terms, like paid family and medial leave and universal free school lunches, gun control measures and opposing the “cruelty and corruption” of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
No governor has ever won a third four year term in state, and Walz’s record as governor and elevation to the national stage last year as Democratic presidential candidate’s running mate Kamala Harris could harm his credibility as a moderate who can perform in rural and urban areas alike, many political observers say. Still, the exact effects are to be seen.
“Walz did particularly well in his former House district in southeastern Minnesota, and that helped to boost his margin in his first two election contests,” said Steven Schier, a professor emeritus of political science at Carleton College in Northfield.
“The question is whether his popularity has eroded out there and in greater Minnesota — to the extent that his reelection becomes more questionable in 2026,” he continued.
Despite that potential erosion, Schier said the contest for the governor’s office will likely center around winning over suburban and independent voters. Walz’s chances of reelection will also depend on the level of Trump’s unpopularity in Minnesota, he said.
Government fraud
A major issue absent from Walz’s Friday speech was the issue of significant fraud in state government programs, an issue that’s shaping up to be the focus of Republicans in the early stages of the election.
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Minnesota U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson has said he believes fraudsters have stolen close to $1 billion from the state in recent years, and investigations continue to unearth new schemes.
Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Maple Grove Republican now running for governor, leads a GOP-created House fraud committee, has made the problem a central issue to her campaign.
“A third Walz term would be an unprecedented DISASTER,” she said in a social media statement after Walz announced his reelection campaign. “Under Tim Walz, Minnesota has seen higher taxes, higher crime, and rampant fraud.”
Walz announced an executive order Tuesday directing agencies to “intensify” fraud detection efforts and created a new anti-fraud division in the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension earlier this year.
And in the past, he’s pointed out that fraudsters are being held criminally accountable — more than 50 of 75 charged in the Feeding Our Future scandal, where authorities say fraudsters stole $250 million intended for needy children during the pandemic.
Still, fraud investigations are likely to remain in the headlines, presenting a lasting vulnerability for the governor, Schier said.
Soon after Walz officially announced he would be running for governor again earlier this week, federal prosecutors announced eight charges in what they said was a scheme to defraud a federally funded housing stabilization services program run by the state.
“The problem is this fraud issue doesn’t go away very soon, because there’ll be additional relevant investigations, prosecutions and so forth, well into the election year,” Schier said. “Obviously, Kristin Robbins is hoping to ride that issue.”
Gun violence
Walz officially announced his bid for a third term as governor as he continues to meet with DFL and Republican leaders for negotiations on a potential special legislative session on guns in the wake of last month’s school shooting in Minneapolis.
Walz and Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislators are calling for new policies including a state ban on semiautomatic assault-style weapons like the AR-15, which was used in the Annunciation shooting.
Republicans, who say school security and improving mental health services are the best way to avoid future tragedies, have firmly opposed any new gun control measures. In his speech, Walz criticized Republicans for talking about “anything except what’s at the heart of this matter.”
A series of public Senate hearings this week failed to yield any consensus among DFL and GOP Senators, raising questions about whether a special session would result in any meaningful legislation being passed.
No gun control bill could pass without bipartisan support in a narrowly divided Legislature, where the House is tied 67-67 between the DFL and GOP and the Senate is a one-seat DFL majority.
Still, Walz says he’ll call lawmakers back to the Capitol “one way or the other.”
Unprecedented 3rd term
Walz was first elected in 2018 and won a second term in 2022. No governor has served three consecutive terms in Minnesota history. Rudy Perpich tried in 1990 but lost to Republican Arne Carlson.
Perpich served as governor from 1976 to 1979 after Gov. Wendell Anderson resigned to allow Perpich to appoint him to the U.S. Senate. Perpich lost the 1978 election, but won in 1982 and again in 1986.
No other prominent DFL candidates have publicly signaled plans to run for governor in 2026.
Besides Robbins, several Republicans have announced plans to seek their party’s gubernatorial nomination, including 2022 gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen and Kendall Qualls, who sought the GOP nomination in 2022.
No Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006.
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