By Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny, CNN
(CNN) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s decision to abandon his bid for a third term has suddenly sparked one of the biggest political questions of the new year: Will Sen. Amy Klobuchar run for governor?
Walz’s announcement on Monday — 16 months after he was tapped to become the Democratic vice presidential nominee — could touch off a domino-like reaction for midterm races in Minnesota.
Klobuchar, who has served in Washington for two decades, is “seriously considering” a gubernatorial run, a person close to her said, after “getting a lot of outreach, encouraging her to run.” She has not made up her mind or offered a timeline for when she will.
Already, the 2026 election cycle was set to scramble the Democratic hierarchy in Minnesota, with a competitive Democratic primary for the Senate seat of the retiring Tina Smith taking top billing. Two high-profile Democrats, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and US Rep. Angie Craig, are locked in what’s expected to be an expensive battle to win the party’s Senate nomination in August.
Walz’s decision opens the door for even more musical chairs in the Minnesota political landscape. Klobuchar’s decision will be the first step in determining just how many.
A fraud scandal shakes up a competitive state
The spotlight comes as Minnesota has been emerging as one of the more politically intriguing states in the nation. It’s awash in a mix of deep-red conservatism and deep-blue liberalism, with an independent populist streak that cuts across both sides.
Minnesota could be called the reddest blue state in America, one that the Democratic presidential nominee hasn’t lost since 1972, but those wins have frequently come at close margins. President Donald Trump finished just 4.3 percentage points behind then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
Before he was selected by Harris to join the Democratic ticket in 2024, Walz was largely seen as a plainspoken Midwesterner who could appeal to all audiences. He emerged as a sharp attack dog, taking on Trump and his Republican allies, who happily returned fire as the social services fraud scandal deepened in Minnesota.
The eye-popping fraud — perhaps running into billions of dollars, authorities say — was hardly a secret. It came up during his vetting with Harris, a Democrat familiar with the matter said, as convictions were already piling up with the Justice Department under the Biden administration.
Some Democrats privately urged Walz not to run for reelection, fearful the federal probe could give Republicans an opening in Minnesota and beyond, but in September he announced his decision to seek a third term. If successful, he would have served longer than any governor in the state’s history.
In stepping aside, Walz is seeking to ease the scandal’s weight on Democrats up and down the ballot in a state where the legislature is divided nearly evenly. By bowing out early, the GOP also loses one of its biggest targets.
“I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute that I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota,” Walz said Monday.
Restoring public trust after Minnesotans are still grappling with the extent of the nation’s largest Covid-era scandals will likely be the top priority for Democratic candidates this fall. Though it remains an open question whether the scandal will remain at the forefront of Republican campaign efforts or be overtaken by other events.
Klobuchar’s next steps
Klobuchar, 65, who served as the Hennepin County Attorney in Minneapolis before running for the Senate in 2004 and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, could be the party’s best chance to maintain control of the governor’s office.
And if she continues to harbor national ambitions, ser