Democratic Party United States Politicians

"These are weird people on the other side. They wanna take books away, they wanna be in your exam room. That’s what it comes down to and don’t, you know, get sugar-coating this: these are weird ideas."

"Minnesota’s teacher requirements therefore force Christians, Muslims, Jews, and adherents to other religions to violate their faith and endanger their hopes of eternal life in order to work in government-run schools. Forcing people to testify to beliefs they don’t hold, often called compelled speech, is clearly unconstitutional, he said: “They’re essentially requiring people to affirm these ideas that they don’t really believe, in many cases, as a condition of being a public school teacher or being part of a program to be a licensed public school teacher. You can’t force that kind of speech, you can’t require adherence to ideas that aren’t believed.” The 13-member board that made these changes is appointed by the governor, whom for the last six years has been Walz. So, Walz is poised to make similar bigoted, totalitarian, and unconstitutional policies across the United States should he be elected vice president."

"Thank you, Madam Vice-President, for the trust we have put in me — but maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy. I am thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug — this incredible journey."

"In 1999, when Reitan came out, Gwen Walz was the third person he told after his close friend and his sister, as he said during his appearance on MSNBC. Reitan subsequently approached Tim Walz to become the advisor for the GSA, and Walz agreed. “Both Tim and Gwen were incredibly supportive of their gay students. They modeled values of inclusivity and respect. That helped not just me — I was bullied in high school — but it also, I think, helped the bully. It helped show the bully a better path forward,” Reitan continued. Reitan went on to have a storied career in LGBTQ+ advocacy before working as a lawyer. In 2006, at age 23, he founded the Soulforce Equality Ride bus tour campaign, which brought LGBTQ+ students to Christian colleges for debates on queer issues. In addition to his work to help repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, which barred U.S. military servicemembers from disclosing their sexual orientation, Reitan joined the Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying in 2012, as the Mankato Free Press reported in a 2017 profile on his work. (Them has reached out to Reitan for comment on this story.) In many respects, that history of LGBTQ+ advocacy lines up with Walz’s own: As a United States congressman, Walz opposed DADT, voting to repeal the policy in 2010. Walz also ran for Congress while openly supporting same-sex marriage in 2006. “He’s a remarkable individual,” Reitan told MSNBC."

"I can't wait to debate the guy–that is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up."

"Reactions quickly began to pour in following the Walz announcement. "Good riddance," Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota's 6th Congressional District, said in a statement. Minnesota Republican state Rep. Kristin Robbins, a candidate for governor, released a statement saying, "Tim Walz and his staggering fraud could not outrun our investigations and the momentum we have in this race. He knows he will lose in November, and would rather give up than take responsibility. Anyone Walz handpicks to run for governor will own the fraud and failures of this administration. Our campaign is building the coalition necessary to stop the fraud, protect our kids, and make Minnesota prosper. As Governor, I will dismantle the years of fraud Democrats allowed and ensure our tax dollars work for Minnesotans." Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, another leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, took to social media to argue, "If Democrats think they can sweep Minnesota’s fraud scandal away by swapping out Tim Walz, they are wrong." "We need transformational change across state government that only comes with a Republican governor. I will deliver that no matter who the Democrats decide to run," Demuth emphasized. But Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear 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." 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.""

"When you look at Tim, you see a Democratic governor delivering results in every community from the cities to the suburbs to rural towns. . . . [H]e has worked around the clock to help middle-class families get ahead. . . . Tim understands that we don’t govern to move a country or a state to the right or the left. Tim won his first race by recognizing that our job is to move our people forward . . . ."

"But let’s be clear: we have more work to do. Across the country, the pandemic disrupted the lives of our students. And despite the heroic efforts of teachers, students, and parents, many of our kids have fallen behind. We’ve re-doubled our efforts with summer catchup programs but we have more work to do. And to be clear: the burden is not on our children, or even our teachers – it’s on all of us. That’s why in this coming legislative session, we will make the largest investment in public education the state has ever seen. We will pass universal meals to ensure every student is given something to eat and no child has to worry about the color of their lunch ticket. We will fund special education and make sure every young person in Minnesota has the resources they need to succeed. We will put mental health front and center. We’ll work together to stop the stigma and allow young people access to the help they need to reach their full potential. We will ban conversion therapy to ensure that every LGBTQ student knows they are perfect just the way they are. And we will fund programs to recruit and train the next generation of teachers – so a diverse generation of students has an equally diverse generation of teachers. But Investing in our classrooms is only the beginning. Building the best schools in the nation is a good start, but to make Minnesota the best state for kids we need to make sure that kids are thriving in and OUT of the classroom. Children can’t learn if they’re hungry or without a home. We have the opportunity to ensure every child has a safe place to call home and that no child goes hungry. I am committed to ending child poverty in Minnesota."

"My mission as governor is simple: make Minnesota the best state in the country for kids. This is what I have charged my team to do – to make our state the best place to raise a family, and I’m proud to say we have made historic strides."

"My predecessors tackled the problems they faced, and working together with the legislature, they made progress. Because of that progress, our state enjoys one of the best education systems in the country, one of the best health care systems in the country, and perhaps the best quality of life in the country. But we can and must do better. Old ways of doing things must be updated. New solutions must be found for new problems. We must continue to aim higher, reach further, and build brighter futures for the people of our state."

"Education is the great equalizer of society. Education unleashes untapped potential. Education conjures the magic of promising beginnings and the grace of second chances. Putting a young child on a yellow bus to pre-kindergarten in St. Cloud can prevent him from riding a prison bus to Stillwater."

"There’s no doubt about it: we face some tremendous challenges in the coming years. Our economy is changing. Healthcare costs are soaring. Even the climate is unstable, causing devastating weather events. But we must face these challenges with a quiet confidence that can only be found in Minnesota, with a bipartisan pragmatism, and a humble determination to lead the Bold North."

"As you know, I was a high school coach for many years. I have a high regard for competition on the football field. But governing is not a sporting contest with opposing teams each wanting to defeat the other. It’s not a horse race nor a poker game to see who can best the other. It’s about working together. Working to give everyone a better chance."

"If Governor Walz becomes our VP, I hope he could help bring some of this thinking [regarding permitting reform for renewable energy projects] to the federal level. . . . It would make an incredible difference in the nation’s progress on climate."

"No matter how daunting the challenge; no matter how dark the times; Minnesota has always risen up—by coming together. Our blood saved the Union at Gettysburg. Our iron forged the tanks that liberated Europe. Our farmers sparked a green revolution that fed the world. Our imagination transformed medicine. One Minnesota is who we are. We just need to foster it. Together as One Minnesota, we don’t fear the future. We create it."

"It’s the honor of my life to be your governor, and I am humbled to have the opportunity to do this important work for another four years. I will do my best to serve you well. At this occasion four years ago as I took my oath of office, we had no idea the extraordinary challenges that lay ahead. I believed in you, and you believed in me. Together, we emerged from those historic challenges a better state – and today, we are faced with historic opportunity."

"I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next?"

"I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems."

"All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it."

"I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s what I’ve learned – the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed of distrust and hate and blame."

"The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame."

"If I had to say one guy — I really don’t know him, very superficially — but if I were like betting the Kentucky Derby and I saw this 12-to-1 horse and I said, ‘Yeah, I want to get a price,’ I’d take JB Pritzker,"

"We find ourselves at a time when economic, social, racial, and geographic division feels rampant. I will not normalize behavior that seeks to deepen and exploit these divides. I will not normalize policies that are not normal—ones that undermine our decency and respect. If Washington won’t lead, Minnesota will."

"There is a temptation to see these times as unprecedented, to see our current challenges as insurmountable. As a history teacher, I found it instructive to look back at past inaugural speeches to see how incoming governors portrayed the situations facing them. In 1955, Governor Orville Freeman painted a picture of a society in intense crisis, besieged by the struggle between freedom and totalitarianism raging around the world. In 1971, Governor Wendy Anderson spoke about how health care cost too much—or wasn’t even available. He described a housing shortage in which the average young couple in Minnesota could not dream of buying a home. In 1979, Governor Al Quie expressed concern about discrimination in our state. He urged the legislature to take action to eliminate discrimination in all forms, and to open opportunities for women, people of color, the poor, those with disabilities, and the elderly. In 2011, Governor Mark Dayton described how our education system was failing our students, thus failing our future. It strengthens my resolve to know those who came before me, on whose shoulders I stand, faced difficult challenges, many similar to those we face today."

"The best way to spot an idiot: Look for the person who is cruel. Let me explain. When we see someone who doesn't look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us, the first thought that crosses almost everyone's brain is rooted in either fear or judgement or both. That's evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things that we aren't familiar with. In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway."

"To members of the state and federal judicial branches, thank you for being here and for your service to our state and nation. I would like to congratulate my fellow constitutional officers – It’s an honor to work with each of you. To my staff and my cabinet, thank you for your tireless work. I’m forever grateful."

"Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges. This may be a surprising assessment because somewhere along the way in the last few years, our society has come to believe that weaponized cruelty is part of some well-thought out Master plan. Cruelty is seen by some as an adroit cudgel to gain power. Empathy and kindness are considered weak. Many important people look at the vulnerable only as rungs on a ladder to the top. I'm here to tell you that when someone's path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct. They never forged new mental pathways to overcome their own instinctual fears. And so their thinking and problem solving will lack the imagination and creativity that the kindest people have in spades. Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true. The kindest person in the room is often the smartest."

"This is racism, plain and simple, and we need to call it that."

"As a small town boy turned soldier, football coach and high school teacher, never did I envision standing before you today as Minnesota’s 41st Governor—and neither, I am sure, did you. The inaugural ceremony is a public acceptance of our legal—and moral—responsibility to this great state. A clear recognition of the privilege we’ve been given by the people of Minnesota to do our best to further our state’s magnificent legacy. To those of you who voted for me, thank you for your trust. For Minnesotans who voted for someone else—like the gentleman who came out to a listening session on a Friday night in Fergus Falls to tell me he didn’t vote for me, but doesn’t want to see me fail—I’ll work hard to earn your trust as your governor."

"This old, outdated statute criminalizing health care providers is an embarrassment. That removing it was even a debate, much less a difficult vote for some senators, is inexplicable to me."

"New Mexico is at the breaking point."

"The old criminal abortion law of this state, only one of nine left in the entire country, must go. Bring me that bill and I will sign it."

"Whitmer is Pabst Blue Ribbon with just the right measure of Merlot. There will no doubt be some governor in any post-Biden mix. I don’t spot another with more potential than Whitmer."

"It is really incredible about the depth of which they figure out what makes you tick, how you got to be where you are and what you did in every component of the course of your personal and professional life since you were in high school."

"The Supreme Court appears poised to overturn 50 years of constitutional protections for women to access to safe and legal abortions. This decision is catastrophic and will have consequences that will negatively impact generations"

"Today, we’re protecting the rights of Minnesotans and making sure our state remains a place where people have the freedom to get the care they need to live their fullest lives. We’re also protecting young and vulnerable Minnesotans from the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy. We’re putting up a firewall to ensure Minnesotans have the freedom to make their own health care decisions."

"I can tell you we stayed focused on the fundamentals, right, whether it's fixing the damn roads or making sure our kids are back on track after an incredible disruption in their learning, or just simply solving problems and being honest with the people."

"We will always work with anyone who actually wants to solve a problem because there's nothing more important than the people of this state to us — all of the people of this state."

"A governor can't fix global inflation. But what we can do is take actions to keep more money in people's pockets, protect our right to make our own decisions about our bodies."

"She's a contender, If President Biden decides not to seek reelection, do not underestimate her chances for the Democratic nomination and the White House"

"They want abortion to be a felony, no exceptions for rape or incest. That's the kind of legislature that I'm working with. That's the kind of matchup I'm going to have this fall. And that's why this is such a scary moment for Michigan women and our families."

"To have a federal administration that continues to attack, divide [the Latino community], and create racial unrest is disgusting."

"You know what they say, behind every governor is an astonished mother-in-law. To my mother, Darlene Walz. Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done for me and showing me what strength looks like. I love you, Mom. Finally, to those who walked into this theater with me—teachers of mine, teachers I have worked with, students I have taught, and all other educators in the room—please stand as we thank you. Thirty-six years ago, Governor Rudy Perpich also asked the teachers in the room to rise during his swearing-in at Hibbing High School. I’m honored to recognize our educators again today."

"Gwen, my wife, and Minnesota’s First Lady – we began our journey together with a commitment to service... who would have guessed... Our partnership keeps me honest, grounded, and true to our shared values and vision for the world we want to create for our children, our nieces, and nephews. I’m grateful for your sage advice, your acumen, your proof reading, and your never-ending attention to detail. Thank you for sharing your family—Val, Lynn, your sisters and brothers-in-law—with me. I can’t wait to continue building our exciting life together. Hope and Gus, I’m proud to be your dad. I love you both. It must be difficult to have me as your dad – for so many reasons – especially over the last four years. I respect your maturity, your intellect, your humor, compassion, and generosity. Thank you for sharing our family with the people of Minnesota. I know you both will continue to make a positive impact on the lives of others by defining service in your own way."

"I love state government because the work that we do, you can see the results, I'm close to the people that I serve, and this is where I want to be. So all the reports in the world don't change any of that. That's who I am. That's what my focus is, and I'm grateful to be right here."

"None of this happens in a vacuum, but those are a couple things that I think continue to be real priorities for me."

"And to my mom, Darlene, who is with us today. When dad died, you worked tirelessly to keep us together. My dad — a Korean War era vet, an educator, and a cigarette smoker — died of lung cancer when I was a teenager, and my family struggled enormously to pay his outstanding medical bills. We got by on social security survivor benefits and my mom’s job in a nursing home. Mom, your hard work and courage was a powerful example for me. My mom raised four teachers – and three out of four of us married teachers. Education is in our blood. Gwen and I met teaching high school, and we taught together for many years after we were married. We saw firsthand the challenges our students face. While we were in the classroom, coaching football, organizing dances, and directing plays, Gwen and I got to know our students and the obstacles in their lives. It was my experience as a teacher and my passion for education that led me to run for governor."

"Carrying a loaded gun into a community 20 miles from your home and shooting unarmed citizens is fundamentally wrong."

"Democrats were fighting to solve problems but also protect our ability to make our own decisions about our bodies. These are fundamental, core issues."

"The ability to decide when and whether to have a child is the biggest economic decision a woman will make."