Walz Approval Craters Below Trump in Minnesota

Walz Approval Craters Below Trump in Minnesota

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) heads into his final months in office in political freefall. Two new Minnesota polls show the Democratic governor’s approval rating collapsing to the lowest point of his tenure,  and, in at least one major survey, falling below President Donald Trump’s standing in the state.

Deep-blue Minnesota backed Kamala Harris in 2024. In a new poll, Walz now gets worse numbers than Trump.

The Star Tribune/KARE 11/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Minnesota Poll found Walz with just 39% approval, while 53% disapprove and 8% are unsure. The poll surveyed 800 likely Minnesota voters from June 8 to June 10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 

Fox News noted that the same Minnesota Poll registered Trump’s approval in the state at 41%, two points higher than Walz’s 39%. In that poll, Donald Trump now rates better than Minnesota’s Democratic governor in his own state.

A separate KSTP/SurveyUSA poll showed Walz underwater, with 43% approving and 51% disapproving, including 38% who strongly disapprove. KSTP called it an all-time low for Walz in its polling. Trump was also unpopular in that survey, at 36% approval and 60% disapproval. Even so, Walz has fallen into the same underwater territory in a state Democrats have long counted on.

Democrats treated Walz as a national rising star not long ago. He had maintained approval ratings above 50% for most of his first six years in office and was elevated onto the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket as Kamala Harris’s running mate. Now, as he prepares to leave office, he is saddled with numbers that would alarm a Democrat in Minnesota.

Walz has lost significant ground with Democrats and Harris voters. Last year, 91% of Minnesota Harris voters approved of Walz’s job performance. Now, only 69% do. 

Independents are also abandoning him. Only 32% approve of Walz’s performance, while 55% disapprove. Outside the Twin Cities, the numbers get even worse: in northern Minnesota, just 23% approve, and 71% disapprove; in southern Minnesota, only 28% approve, and 67% disapprove. 

Voter concern over fraud appears to be driving much of the damage.

The Minnesota Poll found that 54% of voters are “very concerned” about fraud in state government social service programs, while another 27% are “somewhat concerned.” Asked which party they trust more to reduce fraud, 45% chose Republicans, 38% chose Democrats, and 14% said neither party.

Those numbers undercut Democrats’ argument that they can competently administer large public programs and help explain Walz’s sharp decline in his final year in office.

Walz announced in January that he would not seek another term as governor as scrutiny over fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs continued to build. The Star Tribune noted that his approval weakened after his failed vice-presidential run and the widening fraud scandal. 

Republicans have begun hammering Walz for polling near or below Trump’s numbers in Minnesota.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Fox News Digital:

“President Trump is more popular than Tim Walz in his home state because Minnesotans are sick and tired of Walz siding with illegal aliens and Somali fraudsters over his hardworking, taxpaying constituents.” 

Emmer continued:

“The legacy of Tim Walz will be the fires that destroyed Minneapolis, the fraud that he allowed to be stolen under his watch, and his failures that have harmed our great state.” 

Republican State Sen. Mark Koran pointed to the fraud scandal as the defining issue of Walz’s final year.

“He let his fraud crisis blow up and didn’t do anything to fix it while he was busy shoving all this radical stuff into state government,” Koran said. “After years of extreme far-left ideology and policies that don’t help normal people, Minnesotans have had enough. His legacy is going to be the fraud crisis and desecrating the state flag. Minnesota is just tired of it.” 

Scandal and voter backlash have weakened a Democratic governor in deep-blue Minnesota so badly that, in one major poll, Donald Trump now rates better than he does in his own state.

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