In Minnesota, he's out of the spotlight. Nationally, he's still ‘Coach Walz'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz bounded onto the stage in Portland, Maine, last month to applause and campaign music. Blue lights washed over the room as Democratic activists rose to their feet and waved signs.

For the next half hour, Walz played the role that has become increasingly familiar since his vice presidential campaign - Democratic firebrand. He castigated the Trump administration over immigration raids and the war with Iran. He chided congressional Republicans for failing to challenge the president. He mixed in self-deprecating humor and riffs about doom scrolling.

The Maine appearance captured the current paradox of Walz's political life.

Democrats in Minnesota are navigating one of the most consequential election cycles in years, including the open race to succeed Walz as governor and a closely watched U.S. Senate primary featuring his lieutenant governor. Yet Walz has remained on the sidelines of those campaigns as he enters the final stretch of his time in office under the shadow of fraud scandals and oversight failures that led him to abandon seeking a third term.

At the same time, he has emerged as a regular on the national Democratic circuit - launching his own political action committee, appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and campaigning in battleground states.

Nationally, Walz remains a popular Democratic surrogate whose next move is the subject of constant speculation. In Minnesota, his political influence is no longer in high demand.

Walz appears keenly aware of the split-screen nature of his standing.

"I tell people, look, if it's good to campaign with me, campaign with me," he said in a recent interview. "If it's good for you not to know me, that's good too."

Walz skipped the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party state convention in Rochester last month. And he has yet to endorse Sen. Amy Klobuchar's bid to succeed him, despite meeting with her in January before announcing his decision not to run again. Walz has said he would endorse Klobuchar if asked. So far, it seems she hasn't.

"She's going to run against fraud the same way Republicans are running against fraud," said former state Sen. Jeff Hayden, a Democrat. "She's going to show she had nothing to do with the decisions inside state government. It's hard to do that if you're palling around with the person most associated with it."

Yet Hayden said Walz remains popular with many Democrats outside Minnesota, particularly after his clashes with the Trump administration over Operation Metro Surge, the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

To many Democrats, he said, Walz looked like he took on the president and won. The governor is writing a book about Minnesota's resistance to the ICE operation.

"Nationally, it's about who's fighting Trump, who's fighting totalitarianism," Hayden said. "In Minnesota, every day there's another conversation about fraud, and that plagues him at home."

When Walz unexpectedly emerged as Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024, he was cast as the affable Midwestern governor and former high school teacher and football coach who had won congressional races in a red district. Despite losing the presidential race, that image resonated with many Democrats across the country - and continues to shape how he's viewed today.

Walz has leaned into that identity as he raises money for Democrats through his latest political venture, Small Town PAC, which he launched in April. In a recent fundraising appeal, he said he was "Coach Walz" before he was governor and highlighted his years working with athletes at Mankato West High School.

"We need more candidates who can speak to regular Americans, not just D.C. consultants, and who share the lived experience of raising a family and trying to get by in the places often written off by corporations and the billionaire class," the email read.

The PAC aims to support Democrats in places where the party has struggled in recent elections and to back candidates from nontraditional backgrounds. Walz endorsed oyster farmer Graham Platner after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the state's Democratic Senate primary.

Platner has recently faced scrutiny over allegations about his treatment of former romantic partners, adding to earlier controversies involving social media posts and a chest tattoo resembling a symbol associated with Nazi imagery. Despite the controversies, he easily won the Democratic Senate primary, and Walz appears to remain supportive of his campaign.

Jacob Neiheisel, an associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, said some politicians can carve out a successful national role after leaving office by filling a specific need within their party. Walz, he said, is tapping into Democrats' anxiety about losing ground with rural voters.

Even so, Neiheisel said Walz's national appeal has limits.

"It's hard to rebrand after a loss," he said. "Some politicians can do it, but he's always going to be the guy who lost this really tough race."

Walz hasn't disappeared from Minnesota campaigns entirely. He's continued to fundraise behind the scenes and make appearances at key party events, including the DFL's annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner. He had more than $3 million in his campaign account at the end of March, money that could be deployed to help Democrats in Minnesota.

"I'm going to get out there, I'm going to help anybody I can," Walz said. "I am a good fundraiser right now. That is simply the way it is."

Walz argues his political trajectory - from teacher to congressman to two-term governor who signed some of the nation's most progressive legislation - remains compelling for Democrats.

"Republicans are going to say whatever they're going to say anyway. It doesn't matter," he said. "Democrats ... feel good about the things we got done."

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