Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he will not seek re-election

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has said he will be ending his bid for re-election amid a fraud scandal in the state that had recently become the focus of US President Donald Trump.

Walz, who ran for vice-president alongside Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, said on Monday that he had decided to leave the race to "focus on the work" of governor rather than a campaign.

Republicans have criticised Walz for his handling of fraud involving the state's social safety net programmes. Walz has said that his government was taking measures to prevent future fraud.

Among his critics was Trump, whose administration had recently frozen federal funds for childcare in Minnesota.

Walz described the past year as an "extraordinarily difficult" one for his state.

"For the last several years, an organised group of criminals have sought to take advantage of our state's generosity," he said.

The governor also accused Trump and his Republican allies of seeking to take advantage of the crisis to play politics.

"They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbours. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family," Walz said.

"They've already begun by taking our tax dollars that were meant to help families afford child care. And they have no intention of stopping there."

Walz said he made the decision to halt his campaign after consulting his family and team.

"Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can't spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences," he said.

The decision came just four months after Walz announced his intention to run for an unprecedented third term as governor.

Walz had faced intensifying scrutiny over fraud in state programmes. Among them was Medicaid, in which prosecutors said fraud had cost the state around $9bn (£6.7bn).

In another case, dozens of people were charged with felonies and accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from Covid-19 relief programmes.

A total of 59 people have been convicted in fraud schemes so far, federal prosecutors have said.

In late December, the Trump administration announced that it would withhold childcare funding for the state, after a conservative YouTuber alleged that several nurseries run by Somali immigrants were taking public money without providing care.

State officials have pushed back against allegations of fraud in the video. BBC's US partner CBS News found no evidence of fraud when it reviewed public records for the centres, though it did find citations related to safety, cleanliness, equipment and staff training.

Minnesota, home to the largest population of Somali immigrants in the US, has been the focus of immigration enforcement by Trump, who has said that he did not want them in the country.

With Walz stepping aside from the race, it is as-yet unclear who will run as a Democratic candidate for governor in the upcoming election. Democrats have won every statewide office in Minnesota since 2006.

Around a dozen Republicans have jumped into the race, including MyPillow founder and chief executive Mike Lindell, who is a Trump ally, as well as Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

Prior to joining politics, Walz was an Army National Guard member and teacher.