Verbatim

Walz: “Like many Minnesotans, I was glad to turn the page on 2025. It was an extraordinarily difficult year for our state. And it ended on a particularly sour note.

“For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. 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.

“I won’t mince words here. 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.

“Make no mistake: We should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve made systemic changes to the way we do business.

“We’ve gone to the legislature time and again to get more tools to combat fraud. We’ve fired people who weren’t doing their jobs. We’ve seen people go to jail for stealing from our state. We’ve cut off whole streams of funding, in partnership with the federal government, where we saw widespread criminal activity. We’ve put new locks on the doors of our remaining programs, and we’ve hired a new head of program integrity to make sure those locks can’t be broken.

“All across the state, Minnesotans are hard at work on this problem. Advocates, administrators, investigators are on the front lines defending the integrity of our state’s programs, and I want to thank them for their efforts.

“There’s more to do. A single taxpayer dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar too much to tolerate. And while there’s a role to play for everyone – from the legislature to prosecutors to insurance companies to local and county government – the buck stops with me. My administration is taking fast, decisive action to solve this crisis. And we will win the fight against the fraudsters.

“But the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win.

“We’ve got Republicans here in the legislature playing hide-and-seek with whistleblowers.

“We’ve got conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into daycare centers and demanding access to our children.

“We’ve got the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on.

“It is disgusting. And it is dangerous.

“Republicans are playing politics with the future of our state. And it’s shameful. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: We welcome ideas from anyone, in any party, who wants to help us continue to stay ahead of the criminals.

“And we welcome the involvement of the federal government. I’m grateful to the career professionals at the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI who are helping us win this fight.

“But I cannot abide the actions of the political leadership in Washington – these opportunists who are willing to hurt our people to score a few cheap points. They and their allies have no intention of helping us solve the problem – and every intention of profiting off of it.“Which brings me to this: 2026 is an election year. And election years have a way of ramping up the politics at a time when we simply can’t afford more politics.

“In September, I announced that I would run for a historic third term as Minnesota’s Governor. And I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, I would succeed in that effort.“But 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. 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 the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.

“I know this news may come as a surprise. But I’m passing on the race with zero sadness and zero regret. After all, I didn’t run for this job so I could have this job. I ran for this job so I could do this job. Minnesota faces an enormous challenge this year. And I refuse to spend even one minute of 2026 doing anything other than rising to meet the moment. Minnesota has to come first – always.

“That’s what I believe servant leadership demands of me. And as an optimist, I will hold out some hope that my friends on the other side of the aisle will consider what servant leadership demands of them in this moment. We can work together to combat the criminals, rebuild the public’s trust, and make our state stronger. But make no mistake: If Republicans continue down this path of abusing power, smearing entire communities, and running their own fraudulent game at the expense of Minnesotans – we will fight back every step of the way.

“I’m confident that a DFLer will hold this seat come November. I’m confident that I will find ways to contribute to the state I love even after I’ve left office next January. But there will be time to worry about all that later.“Today, I’m proud of the work we’ve done to make Minnesota America’s best place to live and raise kids – from our new paid leave policy to our child tax credit to our free lunch program.

“And I’m doubly proud of the incredible team we’ve put together to make that vision a reality. Thank you to every member of my staff, and every state employee, who’s part of this fight. We need you on the job to tackle the important work ahead.

“Most of all, I want Minnesotans to know that I’m on the job, 24/7, focused on making sure we stay America’s best place to live and raise kids. No one will take that away from us. Not the fraudsters. And not the President. Not on my watch.”