Tim Walz drops reelection bid. Goodbye and good riddance. | Opinion

Amid a fraud scandal that has caught national attention, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Jan. 5 that he is dropping his reelection bid.

Goodbye and good riddance to a subpar governor who hiked Minnesotans' taxes. Meanwhile, investigations into alleged fraud in taxpayer-funded food, housing and childcare programs have also been taking place.

Walz made Minnesota a worse place to live and, perhaps even worse than that, the Democratic Party elevated Walz to the national stage in 2024 when Vice President Kamala Harris chose him to run alongside her on the Democratic presidential ticket. A mistake we will not soon forget.

Tim Walz will leave office under a cloud of fraud allegations

The governor posted a lengthy note on X on Monday explaining his decision. It showcases his penchant for gaslighting, obfuscation and blame-shifting − and reveals why he has been such a poor leader.

"For the last several years, an organized group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state’s generosity. And even as we make progress in the fight against the fraudsters, we now see an organized group of political actors seeking to take advantage of the crisis," Walz posted.

Walz goes on for four pages, vacillating between acknowledging fraud and describing what he's done to combat it − while also blaming Republicans for trying to expose it.

The governor initially seemed to downplay the fraud allegations. On Dec. 19, Walz slammed federal prosecutors and quibbled with the amount of fraud they were alleging, saying that there was no evidence of $9 billion in fraud.

Minnesotans still deserve to know what fraud the governor knew about and didn't. And if he did know, why is it still happening in what could be epic proportions?

What is certain is that the fraud investigations and allegations were bad enough to force Walz out.

Walz would have been a terrible vice president

After the many instances of fraud and ongoing allegations that have ballooned across Minnesota, I still can't believe the Democratic Party vouched for Walz to be vice president.

"Tim Walz's Rise in the Democratic Party Was no Accident," a 2024 New York Times headline reads. How much do you want to bet the Democratic Party will pretend that it was an accident now in hindsight?

Worse, Democratic leaders tried to boost a version of Walz that doesn't even seem to exist in Minnesota, let alone in a role as important as VP. The governor tried to come across during his vice presidential debate with Republican nominee JD Vance as just this "aww shucks" kind of good ol' boy who likes to help people and shovel snow.

Turns out, scammers are suspected of ripping off Minnesota taxpayers by millions if not billions of dollars on his watch. He would have been an even worse VP.

While advancing an incredibly progressive agenda for Minnesotans, which included spending the state's $18 billion surplus on things like free college for students from families making less than $80,000 a year, he either turned a blind eye as fraud prosecutions and allegations mounted or failed at stopping it.

Either way, Minnesotans deserve better.

Walz will soon fade from the national spotlight and not a moment too soon. But the rest of us should not forget that the Democratic Party thought he was fit to co-lead this country, and how much worse he led Minnesota in real life from the picture of competence they tried to sell.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.