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GOP campaign launches WalzThirdTerm website highlighting Sen. Klobuchar record

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Published  January 7, 2026 10:37am CST
Politics
FOX 9
Walz, Minnesota politics face national attention

Walz, Minnesota politics face national attention

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has announced he will not run for a third term, stating he wants to dedicate his efforts to defending Minnesotans rather than engaging in political campaigning partly due to a vice-presidential run and subsequent scrutiny.

The Brief

    • The GOP campaign for Minnesota governor of Demuth/Wilson has launched a website titled WlazThirdTerm.
    • The website is said to be "dedicated to holding Sen. Klobuchar accountable for her record and disastrous policies, many of which mirror those of Gov. Walz."
    • Walz was first elected as Minnesota governor in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. Up until the announcement, he was seeking a historic third term, after recently running as vice president alongside Kamala Harris.

(FOX 9) - In the wake of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announcing he would not seek reelection for a third term, and the rumors of Sen. Amy Klobuchar stepping into the race in his place, Minnesota GOP candidate Rep. Lisa Demuth has launched WalzThirdTerm.com in an effort to link the two candidates’ records among voters.

WalzThirdTerm website launched

What we know:

The Demuth/Wilson campaign announced Wednesday the launch of the website, said to be "dedicated to holding Klobuchar accountable for her record and disastrous policies, many of which mirror those of Gov. Walz."

On the website, a banner proclaims "Walz & Klobuchar: Learing Together. Failing Minnesota."

The typo is in reference to a now viral video by YouTuber Nick Shirley, who filmed several Somali-run child care centers in Minneapolis in December that he believed were perpetrating fraud – one center, with signage that read "Quality Learing Center" has since become a nationwide phrase and meme. 

What they're saying:

"Minnesota desperately needs a new direction after years of failure under Gov. Walz. Billions of dollars in fraud, a disastrous decline in our reading scores, runaway spending, and more," said Rep. Lisa Demuth, who is currently the Minnesota House Speaker this legislative session. "Amy Klobuchar supported taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants, trillions in tax increases, extreme energy mandates, and helped create federal programs that were ripe for abuse by criminal fraudsters. If Amy Klobuchar runs, I am ready to prosecute her record, hold her accountable, and make sure she can’t bring a third term of Tim Walz’s failures to Minnesota."

"This kind of stunt underscores how desperate Minnesota Republicans have become over the last few days," a DFL spokesperson told FOX 9. "Senator Klobuchar has built trust with Minnesotans during her service as a prosecutor and a Senator who has delivered bipartisan wins for our state time and again. No matter what her future holds, Minnesotans won't fall for such dubious attacks."

Walz drops out

The backstory:

The governor's announcement comes after a period of significant national attention surrounding potential fraud in Minnesota’s state-administered programs backed by federal funds.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson previously spoke at a news conference to highlight the fraud against 14 Medicaid programs since 2018 that could total more than $9 billion.

Minnesota has also been home to the Feeding our Future fraud scandal, which siphoned more than $250 million in pandemic-era relief funds designated to help support family food insecurity.

Walz, 61, in September said he'd be running for reelection in 2026, but then reversed course, saying he can't give a political campaign his all after what he described as an "extraordinarily difficult year for our state."

PoliticsTim WalzElection