Three cars filled with federal agents stop in front of Elle Neubauer and another observer, surrounding the car and threatening arrest during an early morning watch observing ICE in South Minneapolis Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

As Elle Neubauer drove before dawn past the darkened windows of the immigrant-owned businesses on Lake Street in Minneapolis, her co-pilot and friend Patty O’Keefe scanned the passing vehicles with binoculars, searching for signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

As the sun rose, more community patrollers arrived on Lake Street, keeping eyes on the Ecuadorean grocery stores, Somali restaurants and Mexican taco shops that line the street. With such a high concentration of patrollers and relatively few federal agents in the area that morning, Neubauer and O’Keefe decided to head south to the suburb of Bloomington, where O’Keefe said she had encountered ICE the day prior.

The goal is to “distract them, to occupy their time,” O’Keefe said. “The more time they’re trying to get away from us, the less time they’re spending searching for people to abduct.”

The pair quickly located and started following a white Ford Explorer they suspected belonged to ICE. The driver began weaving through suburban parking lots with Neubauer close behind, seemingly trying to confirm he was being followed.

“They do and will say anything to try to intimidate and scare people,” Neubauer said that morning. “One of their favorite lines recently is, ‘This is your one and only warning.’”

The Explorer came to a stop in a hotel parking lot, and Neubauer parked nearby. The driver of the Explorer then pulled his vehicle behind Neubauer’s car, blocking the exit.

A man with a black face covering and a tactical vest peeking through his flannel shirt exited his car and approached the passenger door, gesturing for O’Keefe to roll down the window.

“No, thank you,” Neubauer said, smiling and waving at the man.

“Stop following us,” he said, his voice muffled through the closed car window and the gaiter. “This is your first warning.”

Neubauer and O’Keefe started patrolling their south Minneapolis neighborhood recently as the Trump administration has ramped up its mass deportation campaign in Minnesota, sending in thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents, with more on the way. They are some of the many thousands of Twin Cities residents who have come together over the past year to protest ICE and divert the agents from their mission, often resulting in tense confrontations.

Minnesota has been the focus of President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts since December, when a right-wing media outlet published unsubstantiated allegations that Somali Minnesotans were funding terrorism with money stolen from government programs. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced “Operation Metro Surge” in December, which purported to target Somali immigrants, the vast majority of whom are citizens or legal permanent residents. 

The effort to disrupt ICE operations has only grown in the days after ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good in her car in south Minneapolis, as Minnesotans look for ways to push back against what many view as an occupation of the city by unwelcome federal forces. There are now at least four times more immigration agents in the state than there are Minneapolis police officers. 

Citizen observers are gathering on street corners and posting on social media to connect with each other, and immigrant rights organizations are quickly reaching capacity at training sessions for people who want to learn how to support and defend immigrants.

ICE did not respond to the Reformer’s emails for comment for this story.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good was attempting to run over a federal agent in an act of “domestic terrorism.” Appearing on a Sunday morning Fox News show, Noem said her agency is investigating the funding behind anti-ICE operations, and claimed nonprofit organizations are training people to “distract them, assault them and do exactly what we’ve seen with these vehicle rammings.”

After the man finished talking to the patrollers and got back in the white Explorer, a second vehicle — a black GMC Yukon SUV— pulled in behind him, blocking in Neubauer’s car while the Explorer drove away. 

Neubauer and O’Keefe followed the black SUV out of the parking lot.

“I wonder how many first warnings we can get today,” O’Keefe said, half-jokingly.

She evidently ran out of warnings two days later, when federal agents smashed in her car window, dragged her and her co-pilot out of the car, and held them for eight hours in the belly of the Whipple Federal Building.

Neighbors join forces to track ICE, warn potential targets

When Trump assumed the presidency for the second time, immigrant rights activists landed on a strategy to respond to the coming increase in immigrant arrests: rapid response networks. Grouped by geographic proximity, they would quickly arrive at the scene of an ICE raid to protest, warn nearby neighbors, tell detainees about their rights and convince agents to leave. A common tactic is pointing out that agents can’t enter private property without permission or a judicial warrant.

Around the country, as ICE deployments escalated in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, anti-ICE protesters have adopted and spread the tactics of honking horns and blowing whistles to alert entire city blocks to agents’ presence. The practice has become common in the Twin Cities, especially since “Operation Metro Surge” began in December.

Over the past year, immigrant rights groups have hosted “know your rights” trainings for immigrants and rapid responders, outlining the laws governing ICE and the protocols observers should follow to avoid arrest. At these trainings, neighbors meet each other and plug into their local rapid response networks. 

Following cars, making noise and filming law enforcement operations is legal, according to Tracy Roy of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. Physically blocking ICE agents from making an arrest is not. (And getting arrested, Neubauer said, takes resources away from the movement, in addition to the high personal cost.)

Rapid responders have gathered en masse at protracted federal raids in Minneapolis and St. Paul in the past year, resulting in standoffs between protesters and ICE, in which ICE agents used physical force, pepper spray and tear gas on the demonstrators. 

But with the explosion in new agents arriving to the state, federal tactics seem to have shifted: ICE agents are conducting arrests quickly, in smaller groups than those that have provoked mass protest. By the time rapid responders arrive at the scene of a reported immigration raid or arrest — even if it only takes a few minutes — the ICE agents are often long gone. 

So, the rapid responders have gotten more proactive, setting off on neighborhood patrols, finding and following ICE agents to try to discourage them from making arrests. They also film the agents in action to document potential violations of the law.

“If they know that somebody is watching, they’re significantly less likely to stop somebody,” Neubauer said. “Often when they pull over and people hop on a whistle or on their horn, they’ll just leave.”

In group chats, neighbors using anonymous nicknames volunteer to assist with various aspects of the operation. No one assigns shifts or jobs; group members take on a needed role when they’re available, alert the group to their activities and let everyone know when they’re done.

The system is both highly organized and decentralized, with no clear leaders — just longer-time members of the network helping newcomers learn the communication style and security practices of the group.

As Neubauer drove on Friday morning’s patrol, O’Keefe monitored their local chat and listened to a group call. Both looked for what they’d learned were the hallmarks of ICE vehicles: out-of-state license plates, tinted windows, at least two people in the car — usually male, almost always masked.

When they spotted a suspicious vehicle in Bloomington, Neubauer maneuvered into position to follow it. An immediate giveaway that the vehicle belongs to federal agents, the patrollers said, is that the drivers quickly realize they’re being followed and start driving erratically. Early Friday morning, O’Keefe and Neubauer suspected a vehicle carried ICE officers; it aggressively accelerated towards Neubauer’s car while she made a U-turn at an intersection. Another vehicle they were following ran a red light, leaving the patrollers’ car behind.

“Well, if my plate wasn’t in their database, it is now,” Neubauer said Friday as she and O’Keefe followed the black SUV that had just boxed them in.

O’Keefe shared a description of the car and its license plate number so it could be added to the observers’ crowdsourced list.

As a countermeasure to the activists’ license plate tracking, ICE agents have been frequently switching license plates, drawing a warning from state regulators. 

Even after they lost the SUV — the driver cut abruptly across several lanes of traffic — the encounter was a successful waste of ICE resources, in the patrollers’ eyes. ICE had dedicated an entire vehicle to impeding the observers for several minutes, rather than conducting arrests.

“Deep breaths,” Neubauer said, reaching over to pat O’Keefe on the leg.

Managing one’s own emotions and staying calm is key to patrolling, because ICE agents are “emotional and not well-trained,” Neubauer said. 

‘I feel changed’

Neubauer and a different observer were following three apparent federal vehicles Monday when the convoy pulled onto a side street and came to a stop. Five agents hopped out of their vehicles, and one wearing a face covering and ICE vest approached the drivers’ side window as the others surrounded the car. 

As he approached the window, he greeted the driver with Neubauer’s wife’s legal name — the name on the car’s registration.

“If you keep following us…we’ll have to pull you out and arrest you,” the agent said. Neubauer and her co-pilot decided to keep following them — after all, they figured, they weren’t doing anything illegal. 

The convoy took them straight to Neubauer’s house, where they stopped and idled for a few minutes before moving on. 

According to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ICE agents have routinely identified the drivers following them, then led them to the observers’ home — apparently using a law enforcement database to connect license plate numbers to drivers’ home addresses in an effort to intimidate observers.

On Monday, they took the intimidation tactics one step further. 

Two cars split off from the group, and Neubauer and her partner for the day decided to follow the third vehicle, a grey pickup truck. They stayed close behind for several minutes until they realized the truck was leading them towards the Whipple Federal Building. 

As Neubauer and her co-pilot followed the truck, agents returned to Neubauer’s house and banged on the front door. Her wife, who asked the Reformer not to publish her name out of fear of ICE, pretended she wasn’t home. The agents left after several neighbors stepped out of their houses and started blowing whistles.

When Neubauer realized what had happened, she called off the patrol and headed home.

“I feel changed, and afraid,” Neubauer’s wife said, looking at Neubauer. “I was very fearful — not for me, but for what could have happened to you.”

They set out on another patrol that afternoon, together.

Killed in the act

Since Ross shot and killed Good, immigrant rights activists and elected officials have referred to her as an “observer.”

When Neubauer saw video of the shooting, however, she noticed something that suggested Good may not have been trained, or experienced, in interacting with ICE: Her window was rolled down, and she was speaking to the agents, against the advice of many immigrant rights activists.

“The shooting on Wednesday was 1000% not Renee’s fault. It was an ICE officer panicking and shooting into her car,” Neubauer said. “If we can manage the emotions of ICE officers so they’re not panicking … they’re less likely to f*ck up and make a mistake and hurt someone.”

Several leaders of immigrant rights groups and members of Good’s local neighborhood rapid response network told the Reformer they did not know Good.

Even if Good were in the group chat, the people interviewed by the Reformer may not have known, because they use code names and generally do not know each other’s real identities.

Friday morning, one patroller spoke up in the group call to say their car had been boxed in and ICE agents were approaching.

Another group member repeated the collective mantra: Lock your doors, roll up the windows, do not engage.

Broken glass

Sunday morning, O’Keefe was patrolling south Minneapolis with her friend Brandon Sigüenza when they heard ICE agents had surrounded another patroller’s car and were deploying pepper spray. When they arrived at the scene, they saw two federal vehicles surrounded by people blowing whistles and honking horns, O’Keefe said.

The agents got back in their cars and drove away. O’Keefe and Sigüenza followed them down a residential street until the vehicles stopped in the middle of the road and agents came up to the car — again giving them a “final warning” to stop following the officers, O’Keefe said.

O’Keefe shouted through the closed windows that she wasn’t obstructing them and that they could move forward if they wanted to, she said.

Sigüenza, for his part, said he kept repeating Renee Good’s name.

As the agents were walking back to their cars, one turned around and sprayed pepper spray into the car’s intake vent, Sigüenza said. 

The pair continued following the convoy, O’Keefe honking her horn, until the agents stopped and got out of their cars again.

This time, they shattered both front windows and dragged Sigüenza and O’Keefe from the car, according to video captured by observers. Sigüenza said both of their phones flew from his hands, his landing in the frozen street. Agents handcuffed both activists and placed them in separate unmarked vehicles bound for the Whipple Federal Building, they said.

O’Keefe said the agents ridiculed her while she was in the backseat of the car. 

“You guys gotta stop obstructing us,” O’Keefe recalls one agent saying. Then, referring to Renee Good: “That’s why that lesbian b*tch is dead.”

O’Keefe became enraged, calling the agent a “f*cking bigot.” She committed his comment to memory and quoted it to everyone she could inside the Whipple Building, she said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

O’Keefe’s partner, Mitch Ditlefsen, called her as he was leaving his job as a prep cook at around 9:45 a.m. 

“Someone picked up and said, ‘The owner of this phone has been abducted by ICE,’” Ditlefsen said. 

“I showed up, and there was just shattered windows and pepper spray, and no indication of where Patty and Brandon were,” Ditlefsen said. 

The pair said they spent eight hours in custody, mostly in holding cells with other U.S. citizens who said they were also arrested while protesting ICE. O’Keefe said she was never provided a phone call; Sigüenza was able to call his wife. 

While in custody, Sigüenza said, agents suggested they would pay him or expedite immigration proceedings for his relatives if he provided the agents with names of undocumented immigrants or protest organizers. Both were released without charges. 

Sigüenza said he’ll take a short break from patrolling for his wife’s sake — she feared for his safety long before his arrest — but he’s ready to get back out there. 

O’Keefe said the experience has strengthened her resolve, but also ratcheted up her fear. 

“They don’t realize this is coming from a deep place of love and empathy and care for my community,” O’Keefe said. “And that is a stronger feeling that I have in me than fear.”

Feeling besieged, a neighborhood fights back

When thousands of people showed up to mourn Good at a vigil the night she was killed, organizers urged attendees to get connected to their local immigrant defense networks in whatever role they are comfortable with.

Everyone has different skills and risk tolerances, Neubauer said, so there’s a role for everyone. For example, going door to door to meet one’s neighbors is one important way to increase safety and support people who may be staying home for fear of ICE, Neubauer said. 

“But honestly, I have too much social anxiety,” she said. “It was just too much for me to do that. And for whatever reason, my brain works in such a way where (patrolling) is less anxiety-inducing than talking to my neighbors door-to-door.”

She wouldn’t be able to deal with the emotional toll of patrolling without support from her wife, she said. The movement needs all kinds of help; whistles and volunteers to distribute them; plate checkers and people to coordinate among different networks in various languages; food delivery for immigrants sheltering in place.

And, more people in more neighborhoods who are ready to jump into action when ICE shows up next door.

A federal agent grabs a demonstrator as they attempt to drive a truck through the area while protesters gather after ICE officers shot and killed a woman through her car window Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 near Portland Avenue and 34th Street. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Minneapolis Public Schools canceled school on Thursday and Friday, citing safety concerns related to incidents involving Border Patrol* agents Wednesday.

Federal agents deployed tear gas at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis Wednesday afternoon as students were being dismissed, hours after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman a few miles away, according to the teachers’ union.

The incident occurred hours after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis, sparking protests and a vigil that attracted thousands. 

Roosevelt High School is home to the Spanish immersion program for Minneapolis Public Schools. The student population is around one-third African American and one-third Hispanic American, according to the district. 

The Minneapolis Federation of Educators Local 59 said in a statement a union member was detained by federal agents at the school but later released. 

“We will not tolerate ICE inhibiting our city’s youth from their constitutional right to attend school safely or inhibiting educators from doing their job,” the union’s executive board said in the statement. 

El Colegio High School, a nearby bilingual charter school, announced Wednesday that classes would be held online until further notice. 

*Correction: Due to incorrect information from the teachers union, a previous version of this article misstated which federal offcers were at the school. 

The crashed SUV after an ICE agent shot the driver at point-blank range through the window on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. The driver died, according to the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Leer en español.

An ICE officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman driving an SUV through her car window in south Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.

The deadly confrontation immediately ratcheted up the intensity of what was already a brutal crackdown on Minnesota and its immigrants by the Trump administration — and in a community with raw memories of the police murder of George Floyd.

Video of the incident shared with the Reformer shows masked ICE officers approach a Honda Pilot stopped in the middle of Portland Avenue near 34th Street. One officer tells the driver to “get out of the f*cking car” and tries to open the door. The driver then slowly backs up and then pulls forward, appearing to try to leave. An officer at the front of the vehicle fires three shots and the SUV travels a short distance before crashing into a parked car.

The woman was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, the Minneapolis chief of police said.

A group of Minneapolis City Council members identified her in a statement as Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis resident. They said she was a “member of our community” and demanded justice for her killing.

The witness who took the video, Caitlin Callenson, said she was on a walk when she saw an ICE vehicle stuck in the snow. As more ICE vehicles arrived, bystanders blew whistles in protest, and the driver of the SUV tried to block the ICE vehicles.

Callenson said she did not see ICE agents attempting to detain anyone leading up to or after the shooting.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, quickly confirmed the death on X but gave a contradictory version of what happened. She accused the driver of attempting to run over and kill a law enforcement officer in an “act of domestic terrorism.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, at a news conference in Minnesota for the second day in a row, accused Good of “stalking and impeding” ICE operations and that the officer acted appropriately in killing her.

“He used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues,” she said Wednesday.

Noem said ICE will continue its operations as usual after the killing in what the agency said is its largest operation ever, with more than 2,000 agents and officers in Minnesota.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, accused ICE officers of “terrorizing neighborhoods.”

“I am beyond outraged that their reckless, callous actions led to the killing of a legal observer in Minneapolis,” Omar said in a statement. “This administration has shown, yet again, that it does not care about the safety of Minnesotans.”

MAGA supporters showed video from different angles that purported to show the officer acting in self-defense, while former senior Obama administration official Tommy Vietor reshared the Reformer video on X and called the incident, “an execution by this ICE officer.” Americans can expect a debate over the shooting for years to come, regardless of the outcome of any investigations.

Law enforcement sprays demonstrators with chemical irritants at the scene where an ICE office shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

After the shots were fired, the driver “then was completely slumped over in the vehicle,” said Emily Heller, another witness.

Federal agents wouldn’t allow a man who said he is a physician to examine the driver, Heller said. Emergency medical technicians arrived 15 minutes later, she said. First responders were unable to get close to the scene because ICE agents did not move their cars to let them through.

“There was chaos and ambulance and fire trucks couldn’t get through,” Callenson said. “They had to walk through all of the ICE vehicles on foot to try to administer first aid.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had been dreading this moment since the Department of Homeland Security began ramping up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities.

Frey called ICE’s statement saying the shooting was in self-defense was “bullsh*t” and blasted the agency’s presence in the city saying they’re only “causing chaos and distrust.”

“To ICE, get the f*ck out of Minneapolis,” Frey said.

He urged residents to remain peaceful and not “take the bait” from the federal government.

“They want us to respond in a way that creates a military occupation in our city,” Frey said. “Let’s not let them.”

Dozens of federal agents from ICE and the FBI, as well as Minneapolis police officers and Hennepin County sheriff deputies responded to the scene.

While ICE agents left the scene, the standoff between law enforcement and protesters is ongoing.

As some federal officers attempted to leave, protestors blocked their vehicle. The officers fired a noxious gas at close range, causing distress and vomiting for many demonstrators and journalists.

Protesters hurled insults at Minneapolis Police officers, who are not supposed to assist with immigration enforcement, but were on the scene Wednesday morning.

After law enforcement cleared the scene, demonstrators placed white roses where blood stained the snow.

City Council members including Robin Wonsley and Jamal Osman addressed the crowd, saying the area was an active crime scene, and that MPD was present to investigate.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a Wednesday press conference that they have yet to see information indicating that the shooting was justified and there was nothing to indicate the woman was a target of immigration enforcement activity, O’Hara said.

Minneapolis police officers secured the crime scene to preserve evidence, O’Hara said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now jointly conducting an investigation into the use of deadly force with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt emphasized the need for local involvement in the investigation for transparency: “With all due respect to the federal level, we do need to make sure that our local agencies are involved.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty issued a statement soon after the shooting saying “pushing hard for a local investigation which is the only way to ensure full transparency and review by our office.”

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a St. Paul Democrat, called on Noem, who filmed herself observing ICE actions in Minneapolis on Tuesday, to immediately stop the ICE operation “to restore order and prevent further injuries.”

ICE agents stage outside of Hibachi Buffet in South Minneapolis Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 as an estimated 2,000 more federal agents are deployed in the metropolitan area. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in the Twin Cities Tuesday as the Trump administration launches what it’s calling “the largest DHS operation ever.”

CBS News reported over the weekend that around 2,000 Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents are being deployed in Minnesota, in addition to the 700 already present in the state as part of “Operation Metro Surge,” which began in December.

In a video posted to the Department of Homeland Security’s official X account, Noem and several heavily armed and masked agents arrested a man in St. Paul. In another video, Noem appeared to greet and thank local ICE staff.

One photo showed Noem meeting with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who is leading the prosecutions of people accused of defrauding Minnesota’s social services programs.

The Trump administration’s focus on Minnesota was sparked by unsubstantiated allegations shared by right-wing media figures that Somali Americans who committed fraud were using the proceeds to fund terrorist organizations abroad.

“@POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have rallied DHS law enforcement personnel to keep Americans safe and ERADICATE fraud,” DHS posted on X.

ICE did not respond to the Reformer’s requests for comment.

Immigrant rights organizations have been fielding many reports of ICE arrests around the metro, but an exact number of arrests is difficult to confirm. Unlike a few high-profile raids in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 2025, which involved dozens of agents and attracted large crowds, ICE appears to be focused on conducting smaller and faster operations.

Walz blasted the deployment as a waste of government resources on social media, sharing a video from a little over a week ago showing dozens of agents leading a single person out of a Hennepin County government building. He said the Trump administration did not give his office advance notice or any additional information on the operation.

“We have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us that are for a show of the cameras,” Walz said at a news conference on Tuesday. “We don’t even know they are, they’ll be wearing masks.”

Noem fired back at the governor for accusing them of misusing taxpayer dollars given the widening scandal of fraud in state-run social service programs that led him to end his campaign for a third term on Monday.

Around the country and in Minnesota, immigration agents have been accused of violating constitutional rights: detaining U.S. citizens for days, targeting individuals based on their speech; and arresting and holding people without probable cause.

In late December, ICE agents entered a private area of the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis without a judicial warrant, according to immigrant rights activists and Democratic elected officials, who urged Hennepin Healthcare to adopt a clear policy and train employees on how to interact with immigration agents.

Janna Gewirtz O’Brien, a pediatrician and president-elect of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said fear of ICE is keeping immigrant families from seeking health care.

“There is a sense of fear that has been perpetuated by our administration, and we need hospitals to step up,” Gewirtz O’Brien said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and three Minnesota-based law firms recently sued federal immigration authorities, alleging that ICE agents and their leaders are also routinely violating the constitutional rights of the people protesting their actions.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.

Gov. Tim Walz speaks after the end of the special session in June Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at the Minnesota State Capitol. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Gov. Tim Walz ended his campaign for a historic third term on Monday amid mounting pressure from members of his own party and intense attacks from Republicans over widespread fraud in state-run social services programs.

Walz defended his record in a statement and said he was certain he could win a third term, but couldn’t give his entire attention to rooting out fraud while running a campaign.

“I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work,” Walz said in a statement.

Some Democratic-Farmer-Labor elected officials have quietly worried for months that Walz’s name at the top of the ticket would hand Republicans the governorship for the first time in 15 years and sink Democrats’ prospects down the ballot.

Walz met on Sunday with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who expressed her interest in running for governor, The New York Times reported. Other possible Democratic candidates include Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon

A slew of Republicans have already entered the race including House Speaker Lisa Demuth, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former congressional candidate Kendall Qualls.

Walz spent 12 years in Congress before winning the governor’s race in 2018. After the DFL won control of both chambers of the Legislature in 2022, Walz signed in the law the most significant progressive agenda in at least a generation, including free school meals for all students; paid family and medical leave; and the legalization of marijuana.

He burst onto the national political stage in 2024 after former President Joe Biden abandoned his campaign for re-election and then-Vice President Kamala Harris selected Walz as her running mate. Walz became a frequent target of President Donald Trump, whose attacks continued even after Trump won the presidential election.

Walz announced in September that he would run for an unprecedented third, four-year term, after deliberating for months. The assassination of Walz’s friend and close ally, House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman in June, forced Walz and his family to weigh the potential costs of another four years in office.

Trump’s attacks on Walz ratcheted up in recent months as national Republicans learned about the wide-scale fraud that has taken place in Minnesota’s social services programs during his tenure, including the highly-publicized Feeding Our Future scandal, in which fraudsters pocketed hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars intended to feed children during the pandemic.

In December, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson announced new fraud charges in state-administered Medicaid programs, estimating that fraudsters have stolen as much as $9 billion in government funds. Walz disputed Thompson’s estimate, painting it as a political attack.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.