Now that the presidential election is basically in the books, and Donald Trump is heading back to the White House, Democratic nominee for vice president and still Minnesota Governor Walz is coming back to the state and it'll be a much different landscape in St. Paul.
WCCO political analyst Blois Olson says it appears Walz will no longer have the Democratic "trifecta" at the capitol.
"Governor Tim Walz will return to Minnesota with a divided legislature and a tie in the Minnesota House," Olson said Tuesday on the WCCO Morning News. "So they have to mutually agree between Democrats and Republicans how to govern, who will chair committees, who will be the speaker, what the rules will be."
Democrats had controlled the Minnesota House and State Senate the past two years, helping Walz get much of his agenda passed. The Senate will remain in DFL control but it appears the House is heading for a tie as Olson said. There are likely to be some recounts in a few tight races across the state however.
Democrats won in the special election in District 45 with Ann Johnson Stewart being elected to represent that district vacated by Kelly Morrison, who ran and won the congressional seat being vacated by incumbent Dean Phillips.
Olson adds that he believes Walz will stay on as governor and not take a national post anytime soon, despite making a huge splash nationwide as the running mate for Kamala Harris.
It was a mind-boggling three month campaign that had Walz traversing the country on a daily basis all the way through Election Night. Now, when Walz returns to the state, Olson says he will have his hands full.
"After two years of a trifecta getting a national profile traveling the way he did, he's gonna have to come back and roll up his sleeves and find a way to govern," says Olson. "This is a legislature that'll have to produce a budget. He'll have to produce a budget and there's gonna be some very tense debates and discussions between now and June."
Minnesota Republican party chair David Hann also had a stern message for Governor Walz in the early morning hours following the win for Trump.
"I guess the thing I would encourage him, is recognize that this isn't a Democratic state," Hann said. "That at least half of us are Republicans and he better respect that, and govern in a way that respects half the population."