'It's hard to lose': Tim Walz addresses Minnesotans after White House defeat
EAGAN, Minnesota — A couple hundred supporters, many decked out in camouflage hats and "dad plaid," gathered to welcome home Tim Walz on Friday after the Minnesota governor and Kamala Harris lost the 2024 race for the White House.
"A huge thank you to Vice President Kamala Harris for the faith that she placed in me, but more importantly, for the powerful and joyful campaign that she ran," Walz said to an auditorium of teary-eyed supporters at Eagan High School in Eagan, Minnesota.
Walz and Harris lost in Tuesday's election decisively to President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, Vice President-elect JD Vance. The Democratic presidential ticket won Walz's home state by just over four points but they were unable to secure any of the seven battleground states, including the "blue wall" of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that the campaign had been banking on.
"It's hard to lose," Walz said. "It's hard to understand, while so many of our fellow citizens, people that we have fought so long and hard for wind up choosing the other path. It's hard to reckon with what that path looks like for the next four years."
Harris conceded to Trump on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., where she addressed a mournful crowd of supporters at her alma mater of Howard University.
Walz, a former geography teacher and assistant high school football coach, touted his history as an educator as a part of his campaign pitch to voters. Dubbed "Coach Walz," Harris' team tried to highlight the VP nominee's Midwestern roots on the trail, but it wasn't enough to grab the moderate votes the campaign was vying for.
"I just want to say 'thank you' Minnesota, for giving me such an incredible story to tell to our fellow Americans in the other states," Walz said on Friday.
The 60-year-old's second term as governor runs through 2027. Walz has not said whether he will run for a third term but told the crowd that was waving American flags and chanting his name that he will "keep making Minnesota an example for the rest of this great nation."
"I love this state. I love this job," Walz said. "And I am not done fighting for Minnesota. Not by a long shot."
— Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for Paste BN focusing on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's candidacy. You can reach her at swoodward@gannett.com, on X @woodyreports, and on Threads @samjowoody.