Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota announced on Monday that he’s dropping his bid for an unprecedented third term as governor amid stinging criticism of the unsuccessful 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee’s handling of his state’s massive welfare assistance fraud scandal.

“As I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all,” Walz wrote in a statement. “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.”

“So I’ve decided to step out of this race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work in front of me for the next year,” the governor added in his statement and in front of cameras a couple of hours later. The governor didn’t take any questions but said on Tuesday he would return to “take all your questions.”

And pointing to his efforts to deal with the growing fraud scandal, Walz charged, “The political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win.”

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Walz launched his bid for a third four-year term as Minnesota governor in September, but in recent weeks has been facing a barrage of incoming political fire from President Donald Trump and Republicans, and some Democrats, over the large-scale theft in a state that has long prided itself on good governance.

More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers, and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion.

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Prosecutors said that some of the dozens that have already pleaded guilty in the case used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and international vacations, with some of the funds also sent overseas and potentially into the hands of Islamic terrorists.

“This is on my watch, I am accountable for this and, more importantly, I am the one that will fix it,” Walz told reporters last month, as he took responsibility for the scandal.

The governor took actions to stop some of the suspected fraudulent payments, and ordered an outside audit of Medicaid billing in the state.

But Trump repeatedly blasted Walz as “incompetent” and, during Thanksgiving, used a slur for developmentally disabled people to describe the governor.

The scandal, which grabbed plenty of national attention over the past two months, went viral the past few weeks following the release of a video by 23-year-old YouTube content creator Nick Shirley, who alleged widespread fraud at Somali-run daycare centers. Days later, the Trump administration froze federal child-care funding to Minnesota.

Reactions quickly began to pour in following the Walz announcement. 

“Good riddance,” Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, said in a statement.

Republican Governors Association Communications Director Courtney Alexander charged in a statement that “Walz’s failed leadership is emblematic of Minnesota Democrats’ agenda and whoever Democrats choose to replace Walz with at the top of the ticket will need to defend years of mismanagement and misplaced priorities.”

Minnesota Republican state Rep. Kristin Robbins, a candidate for governor, released a statement saying, “Tim Walz and his staggering fraud could not outrun our investigations and the momentum we have in this race.”

“He knows he will lose in November, and would rather give up than take responsibility. Anyone Walz handpicks to run for governor will own the fraud and failures of this administration. Our campaign is building the coalition necessary to stop the fraud, protect our kids, and make Minnesota prosper. As Governor, I will dismantle the years of fraud Democrats allowed and ensure our tax dollars work for Minnesotans.”

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, another leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, took to social media to argue, “If Democrats think they can sweep Minnesota’s fraud scandal away by swapping out Tim Walz, they are wrong.”

“We need transformational change across state government that only comes with a Republican governor. I will deliver that no matter who the Democrats decide to run,” Demuth emphasized.

Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor who worked on the Feeding our Future fraud case that was a key part of the unfolding fraud scandal, told Fox News Digital that Walz “allowed fraudsters to steal billions from taxpayers, and did nothing.”

“The only fraud scheme Walz has chosen to end is his political career,” Teirab said. 

But Democratic Governors Association (DGA) chair Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said in a statement, “No matter who decides to run or how much national Republicans want to spend, the DGA remains very confident Minnesotans will elect another strong Democratic governor this November.”

And Besehar praised Walz, a former DGA chair, as “a true leader who has delivered results that will make life better for Minnesota workers and families for years to come.”

Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin, a former longtime state party chair in Minnesota, said the decision by Walz “is entirely consistent with who Tim is. Tim has always believed that leadership isn’t about preserving your own power — it’s about using it to make a difference for as many people as possible.”

“In the months ahead, Tim will continue doing what he’s done throughout his career: standing up to Donald Trump, defending Minnesota’s values, and fighting for working people,” Martin predicted.

Walz met Sunday with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to discuss his decision to drop his re-election bid, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News’ Alexis McAdams.

Word of their meeting comes amid speculation that Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County attorney who’s been elected and re-elected four times to the U.S. Senate, may now run to succeed Walz.

Walz said he was “absolutely confident” that Democrats would “hold this seat come November.”

And the governor touted that if he had continued to seek re-election, “I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, we would win that race.”

In the nation’s capital, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is investigating Minnesota’s fraud scandal, took aim at Walz.

“Though Tim Walz is not running for governor again, he cannot run from accountability,” Rep. James Comer of Kentucky charged in a statement. “The House Oversight Committee demands that he appear for a public hearing on February 10 to expose this fraud and begin the process of accountability. The American people deserve answers, and they deserve them now.”

The statement was echoed by the White House, with spokeswoman Abigail Jackson saying,”Tim should know, that dropping out of the race won’t shield him from the consequences of his actions.” 

 But Walz, firing back, claimed that “Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul, and online – want to make our state a colder, meaner place. They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”

“They’ve already begun by taking our tax dollars that were meant to help families afford child care. And they have no intention of stopping there,” the governor argued.

The 61-year-old Walz was raised in rural Nebraska and enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1981, soon after graduating from high school.

Walz returned to Nebraska to attend Chadron State College, where he graduated in 1989 with a degree in social science education.

He taught English and American History in China for one year through a program at Harvard University before being hired in 1990 as a high school teacher and football and basketball coach in Nebraska. Six years later, he moved to Mankato, Minnesota, to teach geography at Mankato West High.

Walz was deployed to Italy to support Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003 before retiring two years later from the National Guard.

He was elected to the House in 2006 and re-elected five times, representing Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, a mostly rural district covering the southern part of the state that includes a number of midsize cities. During his last two years on Capitol Hill, he served as ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. 

Walz won election as governor in 2018 and re-election four years later.

But Walz was unknown to many Americans when then-Vice President Kamala Harris chose the Minnesota governor as her running mate in the summer of 2024, soon after she replaced then-President Joe Biden as the Democrats’ presidential nominee.

Walz, during his three months as running mate, visually and vocally embraced the traditional role of political attack dog that has long been associated with vice presidential nominees.

But Harris and Walz fell short, losing the November 2024 election to Trump and now-Vice President JD Vance, as the Democratic Party ticket was swept in all seven crucial battleground states.

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Pundits considered Walz a possible contender for the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination. 

But Walz said in multiple interviews last summer that he had no interest in seeking the presidency.

And the ongoing fraud scandal and his decision to end his gubernatorial re-election bid seems to put an end to Walz’ recent tenure in national politics.