Tim Walz is dropping his bid for a third term as governor of Minnesota amid a national political firestorm sparked by the identification of massive welfare fraud in the state’s Somali community.
Walz released a statement Monday morning ahead of a late morning press conference announcing his withdrawal from the race.
“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,” Walz said. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”
Walz and fellow Minnesota Democrats have been subjected to withering attacks at the hands of Trump and his allies over the staggering scale of welfare fraud that’s taken place under their noses in recent years. Federal prosecutors announced last month that the cost of the welfare fraud perpetrated against state-run Medicaid services alone could exceed $9 billion, half or more of the $18 billion paid out since 2018.
A federal probe into the matter has been initiated, and Minnesota officials have until January 9 to provide the administration with more information regarding who is receiving the welfare benefits in the state.
Walz said he welcomes the help from the FBI and federal government officials who are “helping us win this fight.”
“Make no mistake, we should be concerned about the fraud in our state government,” Walz said in his statement.
In the announcement of the suspension of his campaign, Walz also took an opportunity to criticize Republicans and the Trump administration for what he described as “political gamemanship.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, a Minnesota-based nonprofit called Feeding Our Future was created to provide school lunches for thousands of students. Widespread fraud was uncovered in the organization, with 78 defendants associated with the nonprofit found guilty of fraud, 72 of whom are of Somali descent. Throughout the scandal, defendants allegedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars in program funds, an operation the Justice Department is calling the “largest Covid-19 fraud scheme in the United States.”
In 2022, the FBI began its raids of the “fake meal locations,” uncovering hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud. Further, Feeding Our Future defendants were connected to a fraud scheme in which they allegedly created an unqualified autism center and encouraged Somali families to enroll their children, providing kickbacks to participants. The group sent the inflated invoices to Medicaid and dispersed the funds.
Hundreds of millions of dollars more in fraud were discovered via the state’s Housing Stabilization Services program, in which eight defendants were indicted back in September for allegedly filing fake claims under the HSS program using the names of program-eligible beneficiaries.
In the wake of Walz’s announcement, Senator Amy Klobuchar is considering entering the gubernatorial race, the New York Times reported. Republican challengers include MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota State House of Representatives.
Walz’s decision to drop out of the race represents the culmination of a long political decline that began when he was resoundingly defeated as Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election.