Opinion: Could Walz still follow through on ‘One Minnesota’?

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The labels we assign to politicians often define our own expectations. For Gov. Tim Walz, pinpointing a label has proven difficult. Is he a moderate, a progressive or something else entirely?

In advance of his State of the State Address on Wednesday night, let’s review his political history. To truly understand him, it’s helpful to look beyond labels and focus on a pragmatic approach he encouraged from his students and embodies now: Coach Walz is a darn good teammate.

In Congress, Walz represented a district that could charitably be described as burgundy. During his six terms in office, he earned a reputation as someone who collaborated with both parties. Party control of Congress may have actually helped him. During his first two terms, Democrats were in control of the House. But for his last eight years, he was a member of the minority party and needed to team up with majority Republicans to get anything done. And he did.

Pragmatism was evident in one of his first actions as a candidate for governor — he chose Peggy Flanagan as his running mate more than a year before Election Day. Her progressive record helped balance out his moderate white-guy reputation. Despite losing the DFL endorsement, the duo took the contest to the primary and won, partly due to his moderate record appealing to some voters and her liberal credibility appealing to others.

Walz started his first term as governor leaning into a bipartisan approach — but again, maybe because he had to. The Senate was controlled by Republicans, the House controlled by the DFL. Walz fostered a good relationship with leaders, including then-Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. Minnesota has a history of split government, so forced bipartisanship and the strategy to reach a “global deal” at the end of the legislative session isn’t unusual. Bipartisan cooperation to enact a balanced budget is the only thing that avoids a government shutdown.

And then came the trifecta. On election night in 2022, Walz won re-election, the House stayed in DFL control, and the Senate — surprisingly — flipped from Republican to DFL majority, by one seat.

Many people point to this unexpected turn as the opportunity Walz took to champion a hard-left agenda. To me, that is an oversimplification. Some of the progressive policies were standing priorities of the Walz-Flanagan agenda, but many were advanced due to very specific advocates within the legislative majorities. Again, Walz did his part as a teammate — he signed all but one of the bills that passed in 2023.

In my opinion, the trifecta offered a chance to truly represent all Minnesotans at the same time and to follow through on his theme of “One Minnesota.” After all, there is no “majority leader” or “minority leader” in the governor’s office — the governor is the leader of everybody.

To capitalize on this, Gov. Walz would have needed to bravely put aside favoritism for his own party and prioritize having all sides at every table and at every news conference. He’d have needed to publicly give credit and voice support for the priorities of people he disagrees with. And he’d have to be prepared to say “no” to friends. Certainly not an easy task.

Whether or not Walz rose to this challenge is debatable. (Most Republicans would say the answer is a “hard no.”) He signed almost everything that made it to his desk ... but only those closest to the negotiations know what bills he might have derailed behind the scenes. He didn’t visibly have members of both parties at all tables and at every news conference … although even if he’d issued invitations, it might not have been politically palatable for Republican members to accept.

Reviewing all this ahead of his address to the Minnesota Legislature — while discussions of Walz’s plans for running for governor again and/or casting sights on higher office also swirl around — remind me that the opportunity of uniting around “One Minnesota” is still open to him.

To thread that needle, Walz may need to better identify and articulate which team he’s on. Is he on the team of getting a deal through split control of the Legislature, and representing the constituents who didn’t vote for him? Is he on the team opposing the current presidential administration? Can he be on both teams at the same time?

I’d argue that anybody can be a negative attack dog. Walz was most effective as a national candidate when he was espousing positivity and the “politics of joy.”

Putting the goal of unifying both sides of the aisle at the top of his agenda would be commendable and inspiring; it could show us what’s possible. And this effort could be an enormously important demonstration for the rest of the country. That would require him to differentiate between President Donald Trump and “all Republicans” — something that isn’t easily done in a 15-second sound bite, but is important in order to prioritize relationships with his Republican teammates in Minnesota. That’s a bar I believe he can clear, if he wants to.

What’s necessary for his current role as governor could be a selling point as he’s looking to the next one. For a guy who is 8-and-1 in electoral wins, this could be his biggest win yet … and maybe, his greatest legacy.

Shannon Watson, of Minneapolis, is founder and executive director of Majority in the Middle.