Riding in a jet-black SUV with tinted windows, Gov. Tim Walz zoomed past traffic on I-35 as he was hustled to a business showcase near Duluth, where he arrived with his usual military promptness for the first stop of another packed day.
In his first 100 days, the DFL governor has brought a caffeinated energy to the job, often traveling to solidly Republican regions outside the Twin Cities as he tries to enact an ambitious Democratic agenda on health care, education and infrastructure while also living up to the spirit of his "One Minnesota" campaign mantra.
Besides Duluth, last week's "community prosperity" tour — Walz's fourth statewide tour since his inauguration — took him through Marshall, Austin, Winona and Baxter. Altogether, he's clocked more than 3,500 miles crisscrossing the state since he became governor in January.
The campaign-style tour, coming during the Minnesota Legislature's weeklong recess, was designed to use Walz's retail politicking chops and break through the partisan divisions gripping the State Capitol with five weeks remaining in the session.
It also made use of the governor's extroverted persona, building on his brand as a former command sergeant major in the Army National Guard and a geography teacher and coach at Mankato West High School. Around people, Walz wears a broad smile as if he's just heard some good news. When someone makes him laugh, he sometimes leans back, like he's been hit with a gust of wind.
"Up here the politics dissipates and people are looking for real solutions," Walz said in an interview after a nonprofit luncheon in Duluth. He contrasted his short time as governor with 10 years he spent in the political trench warfare of Congress. "They see you as the state's mayor and they want some of these things fixed."
But even as Minnesotans continue to greet him with an open mind, Walz is no closer to enacting his robust policy agenda at the Legislature — where he is seeking more money for schools, roads and health care. Readying for the closing weeks of the legislative session, Walz is locked in a high-stakes battle with Republican lawmakers over a two-year state budget that will weigh in at nearly $50 billion and potentially shape his legacy as governor.
Senate Republicans, who serve as a bulwark against complete DFL control of state government, say they are protecting Minnesotans from the Democrats' voracious appetite for higher taxes and more government.