Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at Eagan High School in Eagan, Minn., Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Ayrton Breckenridge/Star Tribune via AP)

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz vowed on Friday to make Minnesota a safe haven for the values that drove the Democratic presidential ticket he helped lead, while at the same time promising to work harder to understand the concerns of President-elect Donald Trump’s voters.

Inside a high school auditorium in Eagan, Minnesota, a suburb just south of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Walz addressed a crowd of supporters with his reflections on Trump’s election victory, an outcome he said left him searching for answers.

“It’s hard to understand why so many of our fellow citizens, people who we have fought so long and hard for, wound up choosing the other path,” Walz said. “It’s hard to reckon with what that path looks like for the next four years.”

Several audience members donned Harris Walz camo campaign hats and exchanged hugs before the governor took the stage. They gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name as he and his wife, Gwen Walz, delivered remarks.

Tim Walz thanked Kamala Harris for selecting him as her running mate and for her friendship. His ascension to the Democratic ticket allowed him to learn more about the country he had hoped to serve as vice president, he said. Even in the face of defeat and a polarized political climate, Walz maintained that most Americans shared similar concerns.

“People really want the same basic things out of an American life. And I want to be clear when I say basic things. I mean things like meaningful work, safe neighborhoods, good schools, affordable quality health care. But I also mean something more,” Walz said. “It became clear to me, people want security. I mean that broadly. They want to feel like their life is built on a solid foundation that won’t collapse under them.”

Walz also said Americans wanted the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, a message that had been a cornerstone of the Harris-Walz campaign. To that end, Walz promised to make Minnesota a bulwark against a second Trump administration's potential attacks on abortion rights, immigrants and labor unions.

"Look, we know what’s coming down the pike. We know it because they told us," Walz said. “The moment they try and bring a hateful agenda in this state, I’m going to stand ready to stand up and fight.”

Walz returned home from the presidential campaign trail to a new era of divided state government, now that Republicans appear to have broken the full Democratic control that helped put him on Kamala Harris’ radar. He was elected governor in 2018 and was reelected in 2022 in an election that handed Democrats both chambers of the state Legislature.

In his remarks on Friday, Walz touted several of policies Democrats were able to implement during that period, including stronger protections for abortion rights, child tax credits, paid family and medical leave, free school meals for all kids and gun safety measures. Those policy victories allowed him to tell a story on the presidential campaign trail about Minnesota's progress, he said.

First lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz, who often joined her husband on the campaign trail, said Minnesota would remain a safe haven. In processing the election results, she said the Walzes have found solace in their favorite bible verse: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith."

"Minnesota, we have kept the faith,” Gwen Walz said.

Even as the governor implored opponents of Trump’s agenda to keep fighting, he also called on all Americans to bridge political divides that widened during the election.

“Maybe when we get a little break rom this campaign, we will be able to look at each other and see not enemies, but neighbors,” Walz said. “Maybe will sit down over a coffee, or a Diet Mountain Dew and just talk.”

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Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski contributed to this report.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024