Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's next move: Energizing Democrats in South Carolina and California
Walz, a former schoolteacher who went to Congress and then became his state's governor, will keynote the South Carolina gathering in Columbia, traditionally a showcase for national-level Democrats and White House hopefuls. Another leader who often appears on those lists, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, spoke Friday night at the party's fundraising dinner.
South Carolina held the first Democratic presidential primary of the 2024 campaign, and the party hopes for a repeat as first in line in 2028. But the national party organizations haven't settled their 2028 calendars yet, and party officials in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada are also vying to go first.
'From the classroom to the governor's office, Tim Walz leads with compassion and common sense,' the South Carolina party posted on social media earlier this month when it announced his appearance. 'He's proof that you can govern with both heart and backbone, and he's bringing that message to South Carolina.'
Walz, who's on a long list of potential 2028 candidates who have been traveling to early-voting states, will also be a featured speaker as California Democrats gather in Anaheim on Saturday.
'We're fired up to welcome Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to the Convention stage in Anaheim,' state chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. 'He's a former teacher, a veteran, and a trailblazer who's spent his career fighting for working families and standing up for the values we all share — fairness, dignity, and opportunity for all.'
Democrats have been debating since Harris lost to President Donald Trump in November over which direction the party should take. That self-examination reflects deep frustrations among Democratic voters that their leaders are failing to put up enough resistance against Trump, who has taken a much more aggressive approach to his second term in the White House.
Walz hasn't officially said if he'll seek a third term in 2026, but acknowledges he's thinking about it. He said in a recent interview with KSTP-TV that he would probably wait to decide until July, after he calls a special session of the closely divided Minnesota Legislature to finish work on the state's next budget. Those negotiations have gone slowly despite his frequent meetings with legislative leaders.
He's given mixed signals on a 2028 presidential run while keeping up his attacks on Trump. He told The New Yorker Radio Hour for an interview that aired in March that he would 'certainly consider that' if circumstances were right. He told CNN's 'State of the Union' last month that he was 'not thinking about running in 2028.'
But he hasn't ruled it out, either, and has signaled possible interest in other ways.
Following the Democratic ticket's defeat in November, Walz returned to the road in March when he went to Iowa to launch a series of town halls in competitive congressional districts represented by Republicans, after House Speaker Mike Johnson advised GOP representatives to avoid holding town halls because of protests at them.
Walz's gubernatorial campaign organization, which has been actively raising money, has used his travels in 'Support Tim on the Road' fundraising pitches.
'For the past few weeks, I've been showing up where Republicans won't,' he wrote in one recent message. 'I've hosted town halls in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas to hear from people the GOP is neglecting.'
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
5 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
3 people die in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight into Saturday killed three people, Russian officials said Saturday. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted or destroyed 112 drones across eight Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said. Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people wounded in a drone strike on business premises in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko. In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 53 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said that air defenses shot down or jammed 45 drones. Eleven people were wounded in an overnight drone strike on the Kharkiv region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. The reciprocal drone strikes followed a day of mourning in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, after a Russian drone and missile attack killed 31 people, including five children, and wounded over 150. The continued attacks come after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress. Trump said Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Appeals court keeps order blocking Trump administration from indiscriminate immigration sweeps
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday night to uphold a lower court's temporary order blocking the Trump administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in Southern California. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing Monday afternoon at which the federal government asked the court to overturn a temporary restraining order issued July 12 by Judge Maame E. Frimpong, arguing it hindered their enforcement of immigration law. Immigrant advocacy groups filed suit last month accusing President Donald Trump's administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The lawsuit included three detained immigrants and two U.S. citizens as plaintiffs. In her order, Frimpong said there was a 'mountain of evidence' that federal immigration enforcement tactics were violating the Constitution. She wrote the government cannot use factors such as apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, presence at a location such as a tow yard or car wash, or someone's occupation as the only basis for reasonable suspicion to detain someone. The Los Angeles region has been a battleground with the Trump administration over its aggressive immigration strategy that spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guards and Marines for several weeks. Federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms, many who have lived in the country for decades. Among the plaintiffs is Los Angeles resident Brian Gavidia, who was shown in a video taken by a friend June 13 being seized by federal agents as he yells, 'I was born here in the states, East LA bro!' They want to 'send us back to a world where a U.S. citizen … can be grabbed, slammed against a fence and have his phone and ID taken from him just because he was working at a tow yard in a Latino neighborhood,' American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mohammad Tajsar told the court. The federal government argued that it hadn't been given enough time to collect and present evidence in the lawsuit, given that it was filed shortly before the July 4 holiday and a hearing was held the following week. 'It's a very serious thing to say that multiple federal government agencies have a policy of violating the Constitution,' attorney Jacob Roth said. He also argued that the lower court's order was too broad, and that immigrant advocates did not present enough evidence to prove that the government had an official policy of stopping people without reasonable suspicion. He referred to the four factors of race, language, presence at a location, and occupation that were listed in the temporary restraining order, saying the court should not be able to ban the government from using them at all. He also argued that the order was unclear on what exactly is permissible under law. 'Legally, I think it's appropriate to use the factors for reasonable suspicion,' Roth said The judges sharply questioned the government over their arguments. 'No one has suggested that you cannot consider these factors at all,' Judge Jennifer Sung said. However, those factors alone only form a 'broad profile' and don't satisfy the reasonable suspicion standard to stop someone, she said. Sung, a Biden appointee, said that in an area like Los Angeles, where Latinos make up as much as half the population, those factors 'cannot possibly weed out those who have undocumented status and those who have documented legal status.' She also asked: 'What is the harm to being told not to do something that you claim you're already not doing?'
Toronto Star
4 hours ago
- Toronto Star
After a reference to Trump's impeachments is removed from a history museum, complex questions echo
NEW YORK (AP) — It would seem the most straightforward of notions: A thing takes place, and it goes into the history books or is added to museum exhibits. But whether something even gets remembered and how — particularly when it comes to the history of a country and its leader — is often the furthest thing from simple. The latest example of that came Friday, when the Smithsonian Institution said it had removed a reference to the 2019 and 2021 impeachments of President Donald Trump from a panel in an exhibition about the American presidency. Trump has pressed institutions and agencies under federal oversight, often through the pressure of funding, to focus on the country's achievements and progress and away from things he terms 'divisive.'
