Tension between Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan spills into public view

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is finishing off a sour year with a heavy dose of bitterness and a side of petty. 

Separate reports Wednesday in Axios and the Star Tribune revealed division between Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, whose political partnership goes back to the fall of 2017, when Walz picked her as his running mate.  

An administration source contacted by the Reformer didn’t deny the tension and confirmed the broad outlines of the stories. 

Flanagan didn’t respond to a request for comment.

For years, Flanagan has often been at Walz’s side during his public announcements and appearances, kneeling to talk to young school children and donning a hard hat at construction groundbreakings.

As the two media reports note, and confirmed by Walz’s public schedule, Walz and Flanagan haven’t appeared together since Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris lost the national election, which prevented Flanagan’s elevation to governor.

Citing anonymous sources, the Star Tribune reports that the “Walz team was not pleased at steps Flanagan had taken to assume the governorship, conferring with potential key hires and preparing for a possible run herself in 2026.”

In addition to differences about personnel, money was also cited as a source of distrust. 

“The Walz camp was especially irked because Flanagan had tapped Walz’s gubernatorial campaign fund without authorization for some work, multiple sources said,” the Star Tribune reports. 

When asked whether there’s a rift between himself and Flanagan, Walz on WCCO radio Thursday morning denied it, laughing at the question.

“Probably not the biggest concern in people’s lives. I’m thinking of all the things going on in the world and national politics. No look, the lieutenant governor and I have worked together for many years. We’re transitioning back after a national campaign,” Walz said, adding that they often have different schedules and cannot appear at events together.

Asked about Flanagan tapping into his gubernatorial campaign fund, Walz said: “I have nothing to say on that. I don’t know about that.”

These are not the first murmurings of division. Flanagan comes from the progressive, activist wing of the DFL Party, and her like-minded brothers and sisters spent months on the streets protesting police killings in 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, Walz was committed to public order, especially after the destructive arson following the police murder of George Floyd. After the Brooklyn Center police killing of Daunte Wright in 2021, Walz sought to quickly restore order with a show of force that demonstrators and the press said were violations of the First Amendment. 

Questions arose about whether Flanagan would be on the 2022 ticket. 

Walz and Flanagan have known each other for two decades. Walz was a student at Camp Wellstone, a training academy for emerging progressive politicos founded after the death of U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone. Flanagan was an instructor there. 

Walz represented the conservative, rural 1st District in Congress for a decade before his run for Congress, and chose Flanagan as his running mate in part to shore up support among Twin Cities progressives as he sought the DFL convention endorsement, which he ultimately didn’t win before prevailing in the primary.  

Walz, who has not granted the Reformer an interview request since losing the national election, has told other media he’ll announce a decision about his future after the 2025 legislative session, including the possibility of a third term for governor. 

Walz seemed to taunt potential DFL challengers in a Star Tribune interview, saying, “We could always have a primary.”

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Editor’s note: The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell. 

J. Patrick Coolican wrote this story, which originally appeared in the Minnesota Reformer on Dec. 19. Coolican is the editor-in-chief of Minnesota Reformer.