DFL Gov. Tim Walz will deliver his eighth and final State of the State address Tuesday night as he closes out a political tenure that’s seen him notch victories but also confronted him with a series of challenges.
He’ll walk up the center aisle in the Minnesota House close to 7 p.m. and stand before lawmakers who through years have, at turns, advanced his ideas and given him pushback. Legislators and Walz are both looking ahead to what’s next.
Walz was in charge through the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and, more recently, shootings of state lawmakers and an extended federal immigration enforcement surge.
Those crises, along with a call for bipartisan work across the narrowly divided Legislature, will likely be front and center in Walz’s swan song speech. But they might not have much impact with just three weeks left in the legislative session.
The second-term governor and former vice presidential candidate is also planning for life after political office when his term comes to a close next year. In some ways, Walz’s lame-duck status has lawmakers plowing ahead without him, although his signature is needed for anything to happen this year.
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, has experienced dozens of these formal addresses over three-plus decades.
“It probably will have less of an impact, because so many things are already done,” Davids said. “But I think it's important. It’s tradition, and I’m a traditionalist.”
In the first Walz speech to a joint session in 2019, Walz urged an also-divided Legislature to come and move things forward for Minnesota.
House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson said he hopes Walz can encourage lawmakers to find agreement again.
“That setting where we're all in the same room, that should be the tone: that a legislative session is a terrible thing to waste,” Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, said. “There's a lot of work we can get done in the last three, four weeks of session, and let's put our heads down and get to work.”
In his speech, Walz will likely outline what he hopes comes next for Minnesota — even after his departure. The Legislature will ultimately decide whether his draft of Minnesota’s future is ready for print or should be revised.
Walz could pull themes from his first address to the Legislature in 2019, when then House Speaker Melissa Hortman welcomed the governor into the joint session.
That year, Walz told a divided Legislature they could avoid gridlock.
“I’ll tell you right now the story that’s being told and the story that not just Minnesota needs but that the country needs is a bipartisan and a split government that came together,” Walz said.
Cascading challenges would follow in the years ahead: a pandemic, civil unrest and the assassination of his steadfast legislative ally, Melissa Hortman.
Some past State of the State addresses by Walz were built around the crisis of the moment.
“We’re bracing for a storm of epic proportions,” he told Minnesotans in 2020 during a direct-to-camera speech from the governor’s residence as COVID cases mounted. “We’re used to long winters in Minnesota. We’re resilient people with a deep reserve of courage, optimism and grit. But this will be like a winter we’ve never seen before.”
Walz ordered closures of schools, restaurants and houses of worship. People had to stay home and were asked to mask up.
COVID lingered. Walz was again away from the Capitol for his annual address the next year. He spoke from Mankato West High School, predicting vaccinations would restore a sense of normalcy.
“Brighter days are here, and even more are coming. We are winning the fight against COVID-19,” he said.
The state did emerge from the pandemic. Despite growing political animosity toward Walz, he and Minnesota Democrats gained full Capitol control in the 2022 election.
An ambitious party wishlist became reality. Free school meals, legal protections for abortion and gender-affirming care and a paid family and medical leave program all passed. Walz rode the accomplishments to a vice presidential nomination. The Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket lost, and his fortunes began to turn.
Public frustration over fraud and constant clashes with President Donald Trump left Walz in a wobbly position. He cut short a reelection campaign this January.
“I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all,” Walz said as he ended his third-term bid. "Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest 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 want to prey on our differences.”
Walz is now charting his next chapter. He's writing a book, formed a political action committee to recruit Democratic candidates and is on the national speaking circuit.
He’s said he doesn’t plan to run for office again.
