People From Nebraska

"Walz has emerged as a vocal critic of the second Trump administration, prompting a feud between the two. After a Democratic lawmaker was killed by a gunman and a second was seriously injured earlier this year, Trump said he would not “waste time” calling the “whacked out” governor. Walz’s growing national profile both makes him a high-profile target in the 2026 midterms worthy of trying to defeat, GOP strategists say — but Trump’s intense focus on the race could also backfire given the state’s political makeup. “Having Donald Trump being active in the race for a particular Republican may not be helpful, but it would be extremely helpful to raise the attention on Tim Walz and his record here in the state,” Daudt said. And if Trump ends up throwing his weight behind Lindell — who conspired with Trump in 2020 to advance false claims that the presidential election was stolen — Republicans worry that could give Walz a clearer path to reelection."

"They're out of a Hallmark movie in terms of how decent they are as people, and it's exactly what would want as vice president."

"In the years since his tenure heading the GSA, Walz has made supporting LGBTQ+ rights a pillar of his political career, never shying away from it even when it may have helped him win elections to do so."

"The revelation of widespread fraud committed by members of Minnesota’s Somali community is a political gift for President Donald Trump, allowing him to elevate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as a sorely needed foil for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. But veteran campaign operatives for both parties expect that Walz's status as a Democratic boogeyman will be short-lived, and that Republicans will inevitably look back to California or New York, where bigger-name figures are dominating GOP claims of socialism and incompetence. Trump has heaped attacks on Walz in the weeks after the fraud became a national news story, with the president and Republicans more broadly questioning how hundreds of millions in federal dollars were squandered under Walz's watch. The fraud represents the latest misuse of pandemic-era funds and has become a ballooning case for the Justice Department, which has prosecuted dozens of alleged conspirators. But the story also has a political dimension that ties together the GOP's emphasis on fiscal responsibility with the hard line it has drawn on immigration. FBI Director Kash Patel said that his agency is working with immigration authorities for "possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings.” Walz has defended his handling of the fraud allegations, telling Fox News that his office "strengthened oversight" once the schemes came to light. But that defense has not quieted the criticism, as the Trump administration and its congressional allies expand investigations into suspected misconduct and even begin to withhold federal dollars. Meanwhile, Trump has blamed Democratic policies for an influx of immigrants he says are "completely taking over" the country, and has hurled insults at Walz, drawing controversy for calling him a dated slur for intellectually disabled people."

"By now it has become clear that the Democrats’ presidential ticket has simply changed out one old lying white guy for another."

"Look, we’ve got 76 days. That’s nothing. There’ll be time to sleep when you’re dead. We’re going to leave it on the field. That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom. That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry. Where no community is left behind. Where nobody gets told they don’t belong. That’s how we’re going to fight."

"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."

"Civil liberties and migrant-rights groups called for nationwide rallies on Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of an activist in Minnesota by a U.S. immigration agent, as state authorities opened their own investigation of the killing. Protest organizers said more than 1,000 weekend events were planned across the country demanding an end to large-scale deployments of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ordered by President Donald Trump, mostly to cities led by Democratic politicians. Minneapolis became a major flashpoint of the Republican president's militarized deportation roundups on Wednesday, when an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old mother of three, Renee Good, behind the wheel of her car on a residential street. The violence came soon after some 2,000 federal officers were dispatched to Minneapolis in what ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, called the "largest DHS operation ever." Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, condemned the deployment as a "reckless" example of "governance by reality TV.""

"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 . . . ."

"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."

"I am proud to announce that I've asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work."

"Effective July 2025, teacher licensing rules passed last year in Minnesota under Democrat Gov. Tim Walz will ban practicing Christians, Jews, and Muslims from teaching in public schools. Walz is now the presidential running mate of current U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. His resume includes a stint as a high school social studies teacher who sponsored a student queer sex club in 1999. Starting next July, Minnesota agencies controlled by Walz appointees will require teacher license applicants to affirm transgenderism and race Marxism. Without a teaching license, individuals cannot work in Minnesota public schools, nor in the private schools that require such licenses. The latest version of the regulations requires teachers to “affirm” students’ “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to receive a Minnesota teaching license: "The teacher fosters an environment that ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment where students are empowered to learn and contribute as their whole selves.""

"Minnesota has been the white whale for Republicans in the Trump era. And 2026 could be the year they finally break through — if President Donald Trump and one of the most prolific peddlers of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election don’t sink their chances. Republicans are growing optimistic about their chances of unseating Democratic Gov. Tim Walz next year, as he seeks a historic third term. But Trump’s increasingly caustic attacks on Walz and disparagement of Minnesota’s Somali community — and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s entrance into the gubernatorial race — could hurt Republicans’ chances of regaining ground in the state, some party strategists argue. “When the president comes in with a flamethrower and just throws that type of rhetoric, there’s no oxygen, and there’s no space for the Republican to offer suggestions and to be thoughtful in that space, because the rhetoric of the president just paints them into a corner,” said Michael Brodkorb, a former deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP who backed the Democratic ticket in 2024. Republicans have insisted they can be competitive statewide in the blue-leaning Minnesota ever since Trump lost Minnesota by less than 2 points in 2016. But since then, winning the state has beguiled both the president — who faced a 7-point loss in 2020 and a 4-point loss in 2024 — and Republicans in other statewide races, including two fairly comfortable wins for Walz in 2018 and 2022."

"Multiple senior Democratic officials, one of whom staffed Walz on the 2024 campaign trail, told the Washington Examiner that the Minnesota fraud scandal plays into the GOP’s electoral strengths but doubted that it would help Minnesota Republicans win next year’s gubernatorial election or resonate with voters beyond the state like Trump’s immigration rhetoric did while running against Harris. “The thing about the border security issue was it was so present. People see ‘fraud’ and Somalian immigrants, but it’s not like the images of people running across the border or through the Rio Grande,” the former Walz aide said. “I’m always worried about the misuse of public dollars, but this is a little in the weeds.” A second senior Democratic official welcomed Trump’s attacks on Walz, saying the president’s focus could solidify support from the “anti-Trump” crowd around the incumbent. “No Democrat is running against Gov. Walz because we, and the voters, know the truth: He is a good man, and Trump’s attacks are more rooted in racism than reality,” the official assessed, noting that Republicans, by contrast, have not yet landed a strong recruit for the governor's race. “On the other side, you’ve got basically a dozen Republicans all trying to out-Trump each other, and they’re all probably going to lose to Mike Lindell," they added. "Minnesota hasn’t voted a new Republican into a major office since Trump stepped off the golden escalator, and I seriously doubt the My Pillow guy is going to change that.""

"You know, when I was teaching, every year we’d elect a student body president. And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is. Leaders don’t spend all day insulting people and blaming others. Leaders do the work."

"With Walz at the helm and the support of the well-respected school principal, the GSA didn’t face as much hate as they expected, but there were still detractors. Reitan recalls that every time the GSA put up posters advertising the group or one of their events, they would get pulled down and ripped up. Not to be deterred, the high school senior always picked up the pieces and eventually turned them into a mural emblazoned with the words, “Symbols of our hate.” The group also faced backlash when it came time for them to organize a Human Rights Week for the school, which focused on a different form of discrimination each day for a week, including gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. Both the school and Reitan’s parents received angry letters and phone calls from disgruntled parents who threatened to keep their teens home on the day sexual orientation would be highlighted, but Walz refused to back down and kowtow to closed-minded parents."

"Still, Republicans see an opportunity to win back the Minnesota governor’s seat for the first time since 2006 by hammering Walz, who is running despite scrutiny into his oversight of state benefits and a star turn as the Democratic vice presidential nominee that put him in the crosshairs of Republicans across the country. At the same time, Trump has also used the arrests of some Somali immigrants in federal fraud cases to broadly characterize the state’s Somali population as criminals — leaning on his trademark use of divisive rhetoric that some Republicans worry will fall flat. That risk, insiders warn, could be exacerbated if Lindell, a Trump ally, wins the Republican nomination. “We’d be cooked,” said Dustin Grage, a Minnesota Republican strategist. “I’d be moving to Florida very shortly. We would lose pretty badly if Mike Lindell were to get the nomination.” Those close to the president strenuously disagree, arguing the state remains on the map. House GOP Whip Tom Emmer, the most high-profile Minnesota Republican and an ally of the president, said he’s spoken to Trump about the governor’s race and is confident that any of the 13 Republicans seeking the party’s nomination could defeat Walz."

"You know, you might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks. So let me finish with this, team. It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team."

"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."

"Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, pointed to bystander video he said directly contradicted the federal government's "garbage narrative." Civil liberties advocates said the video showed federal agents lacked any justification for using deadly force. Amid the sharply differing accounts of the shooting, Minnesota and Hennepin County law enforcement authorities said on Friday they were opening their own criminal inquiry of the incident separate from a federal investigation led by the FBI. Some Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, asserted state prosecutors lack jurisdiction to charge a federal officer with a crime, though legal experts say federal immunity in such cases is not automatic. The crisis atmosphere led Walz - a prominent Trump antagonist who branded Trump and his Republican allies as "weird" during his own run for vice president last year - to put the state's National Guard on alert. Federal-state tensions escalated further on Thursday when a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, shot and wounded a man and woman in their car after an attempted vehicle stop. As in the Minneapolis incident, DHS said the driver had tried to "weaponize" his vehicle and run over agents. DHS on Friday identified the wounded driver and passenger as suspected gang associates from Venezuela who were in the U.S. illegally. The agency said the woman had been involved in a prior shootout in Portland but provided no evidence of its allegations against the pair."

"The Trump administration announced it is suspending $129m in federal benefit payments to Minnesota amid allegations of widespread fraud in the state. The secretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Brooke Rollins, shared a letter on Friday on social media that was addressed to Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, notifying them of the administration’s decision and citing investigations into alleged fraud conducted by local non-profits and businesses. “Despite a staggering, wide-reaching fraud scandal, your administrations refuse to provide basic information or take common sense measures to stop fraud. The Trump administration refuses to allow such fraud to continue,” Rollins wrote. Rollins asked Walz and Frey to provide the USDA with justification for all federal spending from 20 January 2025 to the present within 30 days. She is also requiring that all federal payments to the state moving forward require the same justification. “We’re communicating with state partners to understand the impacts of such a blanket cut to funding meant for residents most in need,” Brian Feintech, a spokesperson for the city of Minneapolis, said in a written statement in response to Rollins’s letter. “What’s abundantly clear is that Minneapolis is the latest target of the Trump administration – willing to harm Americans in service to its perceived political gain.” Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, publicly responded to Rollins’s post, writing on X: “I will not allow you to take from Minnesotans in need. I’ll see you in court.”"

"We've been warning for weeks that the Trump administration's dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt. Just yesterday, I said exactly that. What we're seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines, and conflict. It's governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost someone their life."

"A third Democratic staffer laughed that Trump “can’t even keep the plot straight” on who to blame for the Minnesota scandal, pointing fingers at both Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who is a Somali immigrant. Still, the fraud scandal continues to be an unwanted firestorm for the Democratic Party that, beyond politics, could jeopardize millions in federal funding. Kelly Loeffler, Trump's Small Business Administration chief, sent a letter to Walz before Christmas, alerting him that the administration would be halting some $5.5 million in funding previously allocated for the state while the federal government continues to investigate additional fraud cases. New reporting that surfaced over the weekend suggests that multiple Minnesota daycare operations were recipients of taxpayer subsidies, despite currently having no children enrolled in the programs. Patel reacted to those reports on Sunday by announcing plans to surge "investigative resources" to expand the federal government's inquiry, adding that the indictments handed out so far represent "just the tip of the iceberg." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem similarly offered up ICE agents on Monday to conduct investigations of alleged fraud sites."

"When Mankato West High School principal John Barnett suggested Walz for the role of GSA faculty advisor, Reitan knew he’d be the right fit because of how accepting both Walz and his wife Gwen — who was also a dedicated high school teacher at the time — had always been. In fact, Gwen Walz was the third person Reitan ever told he was gay after first coming out to his sister and a close friend. “Gwen was my teacher in the 10th grade, and [she] started her 10th-grade class by saying, ‘This is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people.’ I’d never heard a teacher say positive things about gay people from the front of the classroom,” he said. Starting a group for LGBTQ+ students and their allies in a small city in the Midwest during the late '90s was no easy feat, but choosing the ultimate All-American teacher to lead it turned out to be a brilliant decision."

"In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up his efforts to link Walz to the abuse of government programs — while using incendiary rhetoric directed at the governor and the Somali community. In a social media post on Thanksgiving, he called Walz “seriously retarded” and accused Somali refugees of seeking to “prey” on Minnesotans. And at an early December rally in Pennsylvania, he again denigrated the Somali community while discussing “the great big Minnesota scam with one of the dumbest governors ever in history.” Emmer, who said he spoke with Trump about the governor’s race as early as July, said he believes the president recognizes an opportunity in Walz’s vulnerability. “I think the president knows that Tim Walz is the weakest he’s ever been in his political career,” Emmer said. Former Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, a Republican, said the fraud investigations are part of the risk for Walz in seeking a third consecutive term. “If you can lay out a case that, ‘Well, you’ve been elected now for eight years, and you haven’t fixed these problems,’ or ‘You haven’t accomplished what you said you were going to’ … it kind of makes it an easier case to say, ‘Maybe it’s time for someone new,’” Daudt said. But the rhetoric Trump is using to highlight the fraud may reframe the issue to the detriment of Walz’s Republican opponent, said Brodkorb,the former party official. He believes Minnesotans are eager to weigh ideas on immigration policy and how to tackle abuse of public programs. “The problem is when the president comes in and says things like, ‘Everyone in the entire Somali community is garbage,’” Brodkorb said."

"Mr. Walz brought passion every day. He loved to coach. He loved to teach. [As for football,] if you don’t do your job, there’s literally a hole there for them to run the ball through. Tim, he just had a way of not making you feel bad but making you want to do better."

"When running for the House in 2006, Walz ran on a platform expressing support for same-sex marriage, which Minnesota banned in 1997. In 2011, he announced his support for the Respect for Marriage Act, which aimed to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure federal and state recognition of same-sex marriages. The act became law in December 2022."

"Even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule. Mind your own damn business, [the audience responded with a round of applause] and that includes, IVF infertility treatments, and this is personal for Gwen and I."

"While working as a 35-year-old social studies teacher at Mankato West High School in 1999, Walz advised the school’s first gay-straight alliance (GSA) supporting LGBTQ+ students. On May 17, Gov. Walz signed legislation that stops libraries in the state from removing books “based solely on the viewpoint, content, message, idea, or opinion conveyed,” including LGBTQ+ themes. On the day of the law’s signing, Walz wrote, “Censorship has no place in our libraries,” Walz posted to X. “As a former teacher, I’m clear: We need to remember our history, not erase it.” While delivering his State of the State Address last April, Walz seemed to make a thinly veiled criticism of Florida’s “Don’t say gay” law banning classroom instruction on LGBTQ+ issues in schools. “Look, I’m only the governor of this great state. It’s not up to me how folks in places like Florida go about their business,” Walz said. “But I have to tell you, I’m pretty glad we do it our way and not their way. They’re banishing books from their schools. We’re banishing hunger from ours.”"

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

"The USDA’s announcement coincides with a federal ruling that the Trump administration cannot block federal money for childcare subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from reaching five Democratic-led states, including Minnesota. The Trump administration has targeted Minnesota over the past year over allegations of fraud, specifically going after the state’s Somali population. Federal prosecutors estimate as much as $9bn has been stolen across schemes allegedly linked to the state’s Somali population. Trump ended legal protections for Somali immigrants in the state in November 2025, claiming that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from.” Shortly thereafter, Trump went off on both Somalis and Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congressional representative who is from Somalia and is a US citizen, in a xenophobic rant during a cabinet meeting. “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you,” the president said. He called Omar “garbage” and said “we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country”."

"Born on April 6, 1964, in West Point, Nebraska, Tim Walz grew up in the state’s rural northwestern area of Valentine. He entered the Army National Guard in 1981 at the age of 17, serving 24 years and retiring as a Command Sergeant Major in 2005. In 1989, he earned a bachelor’s in social science education from Chadron State College, and In 2001, he earned a master’s in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Walz was a high school teacher and coach. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, representing Minnesota’s 1st congressional district and winning re-election every two years until he became governor in 2018. In the House, he focused largely on veterans issues and became known for his bipartisanship. As governor, he focused on police and firearm reform, cannabis legalization, and educational funding. He won re-election as governor in 2022."

"In 2023, Walz signed a statewide bill banning so-called conversion therapy, the widely discredited and disavowed practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The conversion therapy ban forbids any medical or mental healthcare practitioner from offering such therapy to minors and “vulnerable” adults. It also forbids any entities from publishing advertising that refers to LGBTQ+ identities as “a mental disease, disorder or illness” or promises to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Practitioners who break the law could face discipline from the state’s health licensing boards. During the law’s signing ceremony, Walz stated, “Minnesota says, ‘Welcome to a state who values who you are and protects you for who you are.’”"

"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."

"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 hope maybe we're at the McCarthy moment. Do you have no decency? Do you have no decency? We have someone dead. In their car For no reason whatsoever, and And I, I don't, I don't want to be right about this, but I said if they do this they're going to create a chaotic situation where someone innocent's going to get killed, and they did it. And now we hear more political rhetoric. Enough, enough is enough. And so to Minnesotans don't take the bait. Do not take the bait. Do not allow them to deploy federal troops into here. Do not allow them to invoke the Insurrection Act. Do not allow them to declare martial law. Do not allow them to lie about the security and the decency of this state. And let's let this investigation play itself. Let's make sure we protect our neighbors. I encourage you to use your First Amendment rights and all of your constitutional rights, but do so in a peaceful manner. We'll gather back with you as soon as we gather more information that needs to be put out. But again, stay safe, Minnesotans, and we'll be back with you."

"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."

"I have a very simple message. We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: you've done enough. There's nothing more important than Minnesotan safety. I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks, and these National Guard troops are our National Guard troops. They're teachers in your community. They're business owners. They're construction professionals. They are Minnesotans. Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight. We will not take the bait. We will continue to update you, Minnesota, as we get more information."

"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."

"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."

"Now is the time to be bold and build a bright future for all Minnesotans. Now is the time to deliver. We can lead the nation in ending child poverty and making sure every child receives a world-class education. And in doing so, we will continue to make Minnesota the best place to raise a family. I have a positive vision for the future of our state and it’s rooted in my belief that we’re in this together. I still believe that we’re One Minnesota – not that we are all the same or that we all the agree, but that we can work together across lines of difference to do what’s right, what’s fair, and make our state a better place for all. As I look into this room and see so many newly elected leaders—including the promising faces of our new majorities in both the House and the Senate—I can’t help but feel optimistic. I’m looking at a state legislature—on both sides of the aisle—that looks more like the people of Minnesota than any time in history. This gives me hope. It inspires me. And I look forward to working together – Republicans and Democrats alike. I’ll work with anyone who’s willing to work with me to get things done – because Minnesotans spoke clearly this last election, and they expect all of us to do just that: get things done. The era of gridlock is over. Minnesotans have chosen hope over fear, fact over fiction, and action over excuses. Our path is clear. It’s time to lead."

"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."

"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."

"To all who have been elected to serve: Be the decent, dedicated, and diverse leaders you were elected to be. Be the ally, and the role model, and the change maker your constituents need you to be. Work pragmatically. Work with someone you never thought you could to accomplish something you never thought possible. We are not here to score political points. We are not here for victory laps. We are here to improve lives. We have a moment – and it’s not about which party won or which party is in control; this moment is about our opportunity to work collaboratively and get things done for Minnesotans. This is our opportunity to model what public service and public servants look like. This is our opportunity to make change, to make what was previously impossible possible, and to strengthen faith in government as a force for good. This is our opportunity to restore civility, transparency, and accessibility to the decision-making table for Minnesotans of all ages, races, genders, and zip codes. This is our opportunity to build One Minnesota, and to make our state the best place in the country to live, to work, and to raise a family. This is our opportunity. Let’s get to work."

"Look, I know guns. I’m a veteran. I’m a hunter. And I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I’ve got the trophies to prove it. But I’m also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe."

"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."

"[S]ome of us who have less hair and are old enough can remember when you could go to Thanksgiving . . . and not complain about politics the whole time . . . because you shared a commitment to democracy, a commitment to personal freedoms, a commitment to public education, a commitment to infrastructure."

"They spent so much money in his first campaign making him look like a buffoon ... You're with him for five minutes and you see that's not true."

"I think we need to push back on this. There's no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy."

"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."