Governor Tim Walz — along with the progressive faction he represents in Minnesota politics — is quite directly the reason my family moved out of the state.
Governor Tim Walz — along with the progressive faction he represents in Minnesota politics — is quite directly the reason my family moved out of the state. (They now happily reside in the free land of Florida.)
Upon Walz’s nomination to VP candidate, I knew I would have some stories to share. Beyond his obscene financial mismanagement — which our economic guru Dominic Pino has summarized nicely — there are too many scandals from his governorship to count. As gathered from Minnesotan friends and family, here are the top ten reasons Tim Walz stinks:
10. Unreasonable labor demands, initially backed by Walz, almost forced Uber out of Minnesota. Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) state senators crafted a bill — backed by Walz’s office — that nearly shut down the operations of both Uber and Lyft in the state. They demanded minimum compensation rates and benefits that would have made ride-share business in the state less than profitable. The initial bill has since received substantial edits, and the new draft awaits its fate in the state house. If the bill passes, the cost of the wage increases, of course, will be shifted onto consumers — a ride between Minneapolis and St. Paul will cost upwards of $50. This price increase will make most taxi rides cheaper than an Uber or a Lyft in the state.
9. Walz supported pricey paid-leave legislation that will harm small business across the state. Set to take effect January 1, 2026, the new legislation demands up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents, those taking care of an ill family member, or those recovering from an illness themselves. If more than one of these circumstances occur in a single year, employers must provide up to 20 weeks of paid leave. Doug Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said the program could become the largest mandate on employers in state history. The law of unintended consequences will prevail — Walz will have to answer when Minnesotan businesses shutter because they cannot afford to provide four months of annual paid leave to staff members.
8. Walz raises taxes — and stifles business — like nobody else. He implemented a slew of new taxes, including a new payroll tax — which will be used in part to fund the paid-leave scheme denoted above. As our friends at American for Tax Reform reported, when Walz first became governor in 2019, he tried to enact a budget that would have raised gas taxes by 20 percent and increased state spending by billions. When Minnesota had an $18 billion budget surplus in 2023, Walz blew through the surplus and enacted more taxes, including the payroll tax and the retail-delivery tax. He also hiked existing taxes, such as the motor-vehicle sales tax and the state corporate-income tax. The cherry on top? Residents of the land of 10,000 lakes must now pay $40 per watercraft to register their canoes, kayaks, or paddleboards with the state.
7. Walz pushed unfair regulations on religious schools. He attempted to block religious colleges from offering Postsecondary Education Enrollment (PSEO) courses — which offer college credits to high school students — because such colleges ask for statements of faith in their admissions processes. One of the Christian schools at the heart of the case, the University of the Northwestern, St. Paul, logged the most PSEO credit hours of any institution in the state. After concerned parties got the Becket Fund involved — a prestigious legal group dedicated to protecting religious freedom — Minnesota promised it would “pause” enforcement of the “eligibility status” of religious schools that offer PSEO credits.
6. Walz virulently opposes school choice. In 2019, he would have shut down the state government rather than offer Minnesotan Republicans a chance to start a school-voucher program. Walz’s position of K–12 education is to instead throw more money at failing schools — and ensure that no families can choose to send their kids elsewhere. While Walz has turned Minnesota into a state with exorbitant levels of K–12 education spending — Minnesota spends over $12,000 per capita on elementary and secondary education, placing it among the top ten spenders in the country — the state’s national education rankings sank from fifth in 2018, the year before Walz took over as governor, to 17th this year.
5. The largest pandemic fraud in the country occurred under his watch. Over $250 million was funneled from the Minnesota Department of Education to illegitimate nonprofits, such as “Feeding Our Future,” which claimed that it was feeding over 2,000 hungry children a day. Instead, the bulk of this cash went to luxury goods, cars, and real estate. Walz was verbally briefed about potential fraud in his state as early as April 2020. The fraud culminated in FBI raids in the state — nearly two dozen people of the 70 who have been charged have been convicted by the U.S. attorney’s office.
4. Walz prioritized access to Covid-19 vaccines based on race. Those who lacked “BIPOC” status — i.e., non-Hispanic whites — were de-prioritized for Covid vaccines based on their race and ethnicity. In other words, non-white patients were given priority over white patients who possessed exactly the same age and health conditions. Under this schema, for example, a poor white person living in group housing was less eligible to receive a vaccine than a wealthy BIPOC person living in a single-family home. Walz’s unconstitutional legislation on race was not limited to Covid — he has also advanced racial quotas throughout Minnesota’s Department of Health and beyond.
3. Walz supports total abortion access across all nine months of pregnancy, right up until birth. In January 2023, he signed the “Protect Reproductive Options Act” into law. The text codified a Minnesotan’s “right” to abortion and made Minnesota the first state in the union to adopt such measures. The law includes “sterilization” and “abortion care” in the definition of “reproductive health care,” to which every individual has a “fundamental right.” Planned Parenthood is thrilled at his candidacy: A statement released by the abortion conglomerate said that “by choosing Gov. Walz as her running mate, Vice President Harris has put forward the most pro-reproductive freedom ticket in history.”
2. He let Minneapolis burn to the ground during the George Floyd riots. We’ve seen all of the photos of the looting, the destruction, the fires, and the chaos that took hold of Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death in police custody on May 26, 2020. Immigrant families had their businesses demolished, entire city blocks were burned, and residents were forced to flee their homes. Much of the destruction could have been avoided if Governor Tim Walz had simply recognized the violent riots for what they were, rather than labeling them “peaceful protests.” Walz allowed days to pass before supporting the Minneapolis Police Department with National Guard troops, but the damage had already been done. As of the year 2024, the neighborhood has yet to recover.
1. Last, but not least, he caused one of the greatest tragedies in Minnesota’s history: the new state flag. As my colleague Noah Rothman penned back in December, Minnesota’s new state flag is a comedic travesty.
It looks like the national banner of a small, fictional Caribbean country you have to liberate from a caudillo in a first-person shooter. It’s the ensign a rebel army would hoist above the burnt-out husk of a battle-scarred parliament building. It’s the flag equivalent of Greendale Community College’s mascot, the Greendale Human Being — an anodyne expression of nothing in particular.
(I still prefer the Laser-Eyes Loon design, for the record.)
For all of this — and more! — thanks, Tim Walz!