ST.PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Waz called on legislators to pass new gun restrictions and new fraud-prevention measures. It seemed a tall order with only 20 days left in the 2026 session of the Minnesota Legislature, which is almost evenly between Democrat and Republicans. Nonetheless, the governor made the points a focal in his annual State of the State address. About gun restrictions, Walz paid homage to high-profile shooting deaths in the last year:
> The assassination of House Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.
> Two children at Annunciation Catholic Church and School.
> Two Minnesotans fatally shot by federal immigration agents.
“We gather tonight in the long shadow of all these tragic, transformative losses,” Walz said. The governor’s 40-minute addess was wide-ranging. About the issues writ large, Walz was upbeat:
“The state of our state remains strong. Over the last several months, the world has seen our strength — a strength that comes not from our politics, but from our people.”
He was applauding Minnesotans for their massive resistance to the Trump occupation of the streets with 3,000 armed federal agents in a brutal, often cruel show of force. Minnesotans resisted massively and shamed Trump into withdrawing and also softening his intrusions into other targeted cities. In a tribute to “a Minnesota spirit,” Walz told the story of a man — “Norm.” he called him — who working to reunite families whose loved ones were detained by Trump’s Operation Metro Surge. Norm, the governor said, is trying to help a man who was released from a south Texas detention facility without any way to get home to Minnesota: Norm flew to Texas, rented a car and drove an hour to pick up the total stranger. They flew back to Minnesota together. “Norm embodied the empathy and compassion Minnesotans have for their neighbors,” the governor said.
“This winter has been particularly cold and bitter for so many of our neighbors. But we’re ready to move beyond our season of grief. We’re never gonna forget those that we lost. But neither will we forget what we have found to be true about ourselves and our neighbors — that we are strong. We are resilient. We are generous. We are compassionate, and we’re in this thing together.”
His final State of the State address. Walz recounted his eight years in office. He finishes his second term in January.