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Election 2024
Dana Ferguson

Narrow election blocks Tim Walz from becoming third Minnesotan vice president

Election 2024 Walz
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event in York, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.
Matt Rourke | AP

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The governor will return to Minnesota — and his current role — after an unsuccessful bid for the White House.

Gov. Tim Walz will return to St. Paul after falling short of a bid for the vice presidency. 

With a win in Wisconsin, Donald Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency early Wednesday morning.

Walz is set to serve out the remaining two years of his term after spending months crisscrossing the country campaigning with his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Walz was added to her ticket in August and has spent most of his time on the road since then. He is midway through a second term, which he won in 2022.

Minnesotans Hubert H. Humphrey and Walter Mondale both held the title of vice president decades ago as part of Democratic administrations. Both went on to run for president and lost those races.

Walz gained unexpected national exposure when Harris opted for him over some better-known options. His folksy demeanor, rural upbringing and past service as a congressman from a conservative-leaning districts were assets.

But Walz also had to answer for problems with his record, both professionally and personally.

His tenure as the governor at a time of mass protests and destruction after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the Feeding Our Future nutrition aid fraud during COVID-19 and a litany of liberal policies enacted on his watch came under scrutiny.

Walz also had to correct misstatements about his military service, imprecise language he used about the infertility treatments used to start a family and inconsistencies about trips he took and led to China as a school teacher.

The entire experience was at times surreal for the former teacher and coach.

“What an incredible journey I’ve been on,” Walz marveled on his closing campaign swing through Wisconsin, describing to a rally crowd how he missed the phone call from Harris to offer him a spot as her running mate. “I get a call — the first one — I don't pick. That's my pro tip for all of you: If you're getting an important call, don't screen it, pick it up.” 

This is a developing story. More reporting to come.