Klobuchar weighing run for Minnesota governor as Walz ends re-election bid amid fraud scandal

Democrats in Minnesota are urging longtime Sen. Amy Klobuchar to jump into the blue-leaning state’s race for governor in the wake of Monday’s blockbuster move by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to end his 2026 re-election bid amid political fallout from a massive fraud scandal.

Klobuchar, who was re-elected in 2024 to a fourth 6-year term in the U.S. Senate, is receiving calls urging her to run for governor, sources in Minnesota confirmed to Fox News Digital.

And sources are telling FOX 9 in Minnesota that Klobuchar is considering making a gubernatorial bid but has yet to make any final decision.

Walz met Sunday with Klobuchar to discuss his decision to drop his re-election bid, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News.

FRAUD FALLOUT FORCES WALZ TO ABANDON GUBERNATORIAL RE-ELECTION BID

Klobuchar didn’t comment on her future political plans in a statement Monday. But the senator, commenting on the governor’s move to combat the fraud scandal full time rather than to seek another term in office, said that “Walz made the difficult decision to focus on his job and the challenges facing our state rather than campaigning and running for re-election.”

The senator has won all four of her Senate elections by wide margins, including a nearly 16-point re-election in 2024.

But Klobuchar, who is currently number three in Senate Democratic leadership, faces hurdles to rise higher in party leadership in the chamber.

WILL MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL FORCE RESIGNATIONS?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is currently the top Democrat in the upper chamber, and isn’t expected to leave his post. But Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is retiring from Congress, leaving an opening to fill in the leadership pecking order. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is the expected heir apparent for that position, however.

Before serving in the Senate, Klobuchar was elected twice as county attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous. She also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

The announcement by Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, came amid stinging criticism over his handling of his state’s massive welfare assistance fraud scandal.

“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,” Walz wrote in a statement. “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.”

“So I’ve decided to step out of this race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work in front of me for the next year,” the governor added in his statement and in front of cameras a couple of hours later. The governor didn’t take any questions but said on Tuesday he would return to “take all your questions.”

GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS WALZ ACT AFTER BILLIONS LOST IN MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL

Walz launched his bid for a third four-year term as Minnesota governor in September, but in recent weeks has been facing a barrage of incoming political fire from President Donald Trump and Republicans, and some Democrats, over the large-scale theft in a state that has long prided itself on good governance.

More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers, and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion.

Prosecutors said that some of the dozens that have already pleaded guilty in the case used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and international vacations, with some of the funds also sent overseas and potentially into the hands of Islamic terrorists.

“This is on my watch, I am accountable for this and, more importantly, I am the one that will fix it,” Walz told reporters last month, as he took responsibility for the scandal.

The governor took actions to stop some of the suspected fraudulent payments, and ordered an outside audit of Medicaid billing in the state.

But Trump repeatedly blasted Walz as “incompetent” and, during Thanksgiving, used a slur for developmentally disabled people to describe the governor.

The scandal, which grabbed plenty of national attention over the past two months, went viral the past two weeks following the release of a video by 23-year-old YouTube content creator Nick Shirley, who alleged widespread fraud at Somali-run daycare centers. Days later, the Trump administration froze federal child-care funding to Minnesota.

Republican Governors Association Communications Director Courtney Alexander charged in a statement that “Walz’s failed leadership is emblematic of Minnesota Democrats’ agenda and whoever Democrats choose to replace Walz with at the top of the ticket will need to defend years of mismanagement and misplaced priorities.”

But Democratic Governors Association (DGA) chair Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said in a statement, “No matter who decides to run or how much national Republicans want to spend, the DGA remains very confident Minnesotans will elect another strong Democratic governor this November.”

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And Besehar praised Walz, a former DGA chair, as “a true leader who has delivered results that will make life better for Minnesota workers and families for years to come.”

Roughly a dozen Republicans are vying to be the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, including Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, state Rep. Kristin Robbins, former state Sen. Scott Jensen, and healthcare technology executive Kendall Qualls, a past congressional and gubernatorial candidate.