Tim Walz warns Democrats of potential backlash if they fail to deliver after elections

<p>Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued a warning to the Democratic Party in an interview on October 12, 2026, arguing that there would be backlash if Democrats win elections in November and fail to implement significant structural changes. </p><p>In an interview with David Sirota, founder of "The Lever," Walz was asked about the Democratic Party's tendency to make large promises without delivering. </p><p>"Yes, a hundred percent. It’s a hundred percent," Walz stated. "I always use the line, as I said, we win these elections not to bank the political capital to win the next one but to improve lives. We’re too slow about it. And some of that is structural." </p><p>Walz referenced former Senator Joe Manchin's position on maintaining the filibuster in the Senate. </p><p>"Look, I’m friends with Joe Manchin, but the desire to hold onto the filibuster at all costs as an institution when it had real impacts on people’s lives of real important things, and by not doing that, it played right into the hands of the Republicans. I think we’re not responsive, and then we fall into that 'But we voted for you, and you didn’t get anything done,'" Walz said. </p><p>Manchin has consistently supported the filibuster. In 2022, he and then-Senator Kyrsten Sinema voted against changing the Senate's 60-vote threshold for advancing most legislation, opposing other Democrats who sought to alter the rules to pass voting legislation. </p><p>Walz, who is the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, warned of a "real danger." </p><p>"Here’s where I think the real danger is. If there is not significant structural change — whether it’s inequities, you know, income inequities or opportunities — the backlash, because, I said this: I got into politics because I said we’ll never find a worse president than George Bush. And I think now, if you think that this is the pinnacle of how bad things can get, I would caution you to rethink that." </p><p>He added, "And especially if Democrats do all of this, the public turns out, they vote for us and kids still can’t afford a college education, can’t afford housing. That’s going to be a problem." </p><p>Walz predicted that Democrats would regain control of the House, Senate, and eventually the presidency in 2028. </p><p>Lindsey Drath, CEO of the Forward Party, commented, "We shouldn't advocate for abolishing the filibuster to drive home party-line votes with no effort to advance cross-partisan consensus law making. What hampers Congress' ability to deliver material solutions to the American people is a two-party system that penalizes working across the aisle." </p><p>Drath continued, "This circular dynamic, whereby Democrats or Republicans enter into a narrow majority, only to focus on maintaining power, accumulates a kind of figurative debt against the challenges facing the American people. This dynamic pushes our elected officials away from working on real solutions for actual problems and toward whatever hyper polarized means by which they can to hold on to power." </p><p>She emphasized the importance of a "fulcrum strategy," stating that it does not require a majority to change the Senate, but only a handful of independents to balance power in Congress. </p><p>Walz announced in January that he would not seek elected office again after previously stating he wouldn't run for a third term as governor. </p><p>He reflected on his tenure as governor in a September interview, including his handling of widespread fraud involving Minnesota social services programs. </p><p>"Fraud — should have stopped it sooner," Walz told The Minnesota Star Tribune. "We didn’t stop them. I accept that. I think there does need to be accountability with that. And part of it is that, yep, that’s with me, I’ll step aside." </p><p>Walz mentioned that the state took immediate action to address the fraud and suggested that the estimated $9 billion cost of the fraud, as stated by federal prosecutors, has been overstated. He compared the fraud losses to the cost of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, suggesting that it was more expensive. </p><p>"I should have been down on those agencies a little more, but I will tell you this, in the scheme of things, all the fraud that's been prosecuted, by the way, and all the fraud that's probably out there is less than the ballroom at the White House," Walz said. </p><p>"So, it puts it into perspective. It doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it right." </p><p><i>Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.</i></p>