MINNEAPOLIS — Tim Walz will remain the governor of Minnesota, according to the Associated Press, after a contentious battle with Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen.
Both campaigns spent unprecedented amounts on advertising and independent expenditure groups, while political action committees were also flooding the airwaves with ads that often blurred and distorted the facts.
Before being elected governor in 2018, Tim Walz had spent 12 years in Congress representing southern Minnesota. Prior to that, he spent 17 years teaching in China, Nebraska and Mankato, Minnesota. He joined the National Guard at the age of 17 and served for 24 years before retiring in 2005 to launch his campaign for Congress.
"Well Minnesota, democracy is alive and well in this state," said Walz during a speech to his supporters late Tuesday night. "Over the past few months, many of you have talked to neighbors, you've done the work and you've talked about what matters to us as Minnesotans. You talked about the idea that we use and say in 'One Minnesota.' It means everyone is valued. Everyone matters."
Walz was a strong advocate for boosting state aid to local school districts and tried to send part of the surplus to help schools pay for federally mandated special education programs. The bill, however, was one of many that ended in a stalemate between House Democrats and Senate Republicans.
During his campaign, Jensen asserted public schools get too much money and that there's no proof that spending money improves student performance. He said he would have liked to shift money to scholarships to help parents pay for private school tuition. He also argued that a public school curriculum shouldn't include topics on race and gender that parents would oppose.
Both candidates also have differing views on abortion. Walz pledged that he'd do everything he could to let women remain in charge of their bodies and protect women who come to Minnesota from out of state to seek abortions.
Jensen originally supported abortion only in cases where the mother's life was threatened, but he later changed his stance to say a pregnancy that results from rape or incest could be considered a mental health threat for some women.
"So tonight, we've chosen democracy, we've chosen to trust women, we've chosen to invest in our children, we've chosen to address climate change, and we've made it loud and clear, as long as this administration is in this office, this is a union state," said Walz.
For live updates and live results from Minnesota's races, click here.
Watch more Minnesota politics:
Watch the latest political coverage from the Land of 10,000 Lakes in our YouTube playlist: