Published January 7, 2026
Monday morning’s announcement from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz that he would end his bid for an unprecedented third term as governor is an occasion for celebration.
While presenting himself as a fatherly Midwestern figure—with all the attendant folksiness one associates with the “Minnesota Nice” aura—Walz’s tenure was an unvarnished tragedy of serious moral consequence. His administration combined gross mismanagement with garish moral commitments. His decision to bow out of the race signals a long-overdue opportunity for Minnesota to reclaim a measure of moral sanity.
A brief review of what transpired under Walz is sufficient to demonstrate the level of moral disaster he oversaw. During the George Floyd riots, Walz proved himself the definition of an empty suit—mouthing platitudes drenched in the language of Critical Race Theory while allowing Minneapolis to descend into chaos marked by deadly and costly unrest. Friends of mine attest to the resulting surge in violent crime that made life in Minnesota’s largest cities precarious and increasingly unlivable.
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Andrew T. Walker, Ph.D., is a Fellow in the Evangelicals and Civic Life Program at The Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is also the Dean of the School of Theology and Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and the founding Managing Editor of WORLD Opinions. He co-hosts The Bully Pulpit, a weekly podcast exploring faith, culture, and politics from a conservative Christian perspective.
