Gov. Tim Walz was catapulted onto the national stage last week when Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. And for the next few months, the governor will be handling what’s likely to be a whirlwind campaign schedule in addition to his duties at home.

In addition to trying to win the presidency with Harris, the governor will continue to oversee Minnesota’s state government, which has 40,000 employees and an annual budget of tens of billions of dollars.

This past week alone, Walz has been on a “battleground state tour” with Harris, visiting states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona to reach voters in areas that could decide who wins the White House. He was slated to be on the road for five days.

At a speech in Michigan, Walz anticipated a busy road ahead of the November election.

“There’s a lot of things going to happen, by the way. We’ve got about 91 days. And I keep telling people this: 91 days. My God, you can do anything for 91 days,” said Walz, to which the crowd replied: “Ninety!”

“Ninety? Christ, I haven’t slept in 24 hours,” the governor continued, which was met with laughter from the crowd. “You know — you know why? We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”

On the road

Walz is the first Minnesotan to reach the presidential general election season in 40 years, and unlike former Vice Presidents Walter Mondale or Hubert Humphrey, he’s a sitting governor.

Walz hitting the national campaign trail with Harris is new territory, but it’s not uncommon for him to travel. Governors are often out of state for business like foreign trade missions and business with national political groups.

He is already head of the Democratic Governors Association and has made frequent media appearances in recent months, initially as a surrogate for President Joe Biden, whose exit from the presidential race cleared the way for Walz to be a contender for vice president.

Brian McClung, a senior administration official for former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, said Pawlenty at times needed to balance duties with foreign trips, work with the National Governors Association and appearing as a surrogate for Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Pawlenty ran for president in 2011 but was already out of office at the time.

The capacity for a governor to handle state business from a distance has only improved since the 2000s, said McClung, who added it also helps that Walz is a second-term governor.

“Gov. Walz has the benefit of having been in office for nearly six years, and he has a, you know, a solid and seasoned team,” he said. “I think that’s going to help serve him well over these 90 days when he’s on the campaign trail.”

‘Still the governor’

If Walz can’t attend certain events due to his campaign travel, members of his administration, like Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, state agency commissioners or staff, will attend in the governor’s place, said Walz spokesperson Claire Lancaster.

That’s already what happens when the governor has scheduling conflicts.

“He’s still the governor even when traveling,” Lancaster said.

One thing that could help Walz? The Minnesota Legislature does not convene until Jan. 14, so it’s not the busiest time in state government.

But work in the executive branch will likely ramp up before the end of the year, as the governor’s office needs to put together its budget recommendations ahead of the 2025 session, where the Legislature is required to pass a two-year spending plan for the state.

Governing style

Flanagan likely would take a larger role in developing the governor’s budget recommendations, said McClung. State law requires the governor to pull together recommendations for the Legislature at the beginning of the session, and agencies likely are working on their budget requests to have them together by the end of the year.

“I expect that she was probably already very involved in that, because that’s the governing style that (they) seem to have,” said McClung.

Flanagan — who has long served as a strong policy advocate in the administration — may not just be helping with the budget recommendation process while Walz campaigns.

If Harris wins the presidential election, Walz will have to step down, automatically making Flanagan governor. She would serve out the rest of Walz’s second four-year term, which ends in January 2027. Flanagan would be the first woman and first Native American to hold the state’s highest elected office.

Related Articles

Trump plane heading to Montana rally was diverted but landed safely nearby, airport staff says

Meet the press? Hold that thought. The candidate sit-down interview ain’t what it used to be

Microsoft says Iranian hackers targeted US political campaigns

‘Our lives are on the line’: Why many LGBTQ+ people hope for a Harris win

Trump wants presidents to have some say over interest rates