It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. 

Well, maybe. After all, the population of nicer guys than Tim Walz is about 4 billion men. 

Walz-Flanagan partnership on ice since governor’s failed vice presidential bid https://t.co/9A50hJShyb

— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) December 18, 2024

Rumors are flying in Minnesota that all is not well between Tim Walz and his Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Often, of course, nobody cares about the Lt. Governor in any state, but Flanagan really has been essentially the co-governor of the state, driving the progressive agenda and pushing the envelope on policy. Until recently, Walz pushed her as both a partner and his heir apparent. 

Walz has been riding high in Democratic Party politics, but his collapse on the national campaign trail has wounded him, and he feels the sting. Flanagan's visibility and ambition are suddenly a problem for him. 

Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan haven’t been seen together publicly in seven weeks and the two aren’t communicating or meeting privately, a rift that coincided with his return from the national campaign, according to multiple sources close to the governor’s office.

The first public indication that something was amiss came just three days after the election. That afternoon, Walz gave his homecoming speech to staff, commissioners and invited DFL guests at Eagan High School. Flanagan wasn’t there and sources with knowledge of the situation said she wasn’t invited.

Political circles are small in any state, with the cool kids well-known to each other and with lots of back-scratching. In Minnesota, that is doubly true compared to many other states where there are a lot more sharp elbows. We tend to fight with passive aggression, and that is the tack that Walz appears to be taking. 

Others who spoke on condition of anonymity said 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. “If the people of Minnesota want me to continue to serve, I am absolutely open to that,” Flanagan said at the State Fair in August.

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

Had the Harris-Walz ticket won, Flanagan would have faced a cyclone of work, having to assemble a staff and prepare for the 2025 legislative session as Walz moved to D.C. with his top staff. Flanagan has not responded to a request for comment.

Clearly, Walz senses that he is on shaky political ground after his meteoric rise and incredible fall from grace. Flanagan, who is a favorite of the progressive wing of the party, saw an opening and took it, and Walz wants to re-establish his dominance. No doubt Flanagan really thought Walz would be leaving for Washington and that her measuring the drapes was not inappropriate. 

When Walz joined the national ticket, Flanagan vouched for him in interviews as a good governing partner. On the Monday before the national election at a sendoff for Walz at the charter terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Flanagan posted on social media a photo of herself and Walz on the tarmac in front of his campaign plane. “One more selfie for the road,” she wrote. “Go get ‘em, buddy.”

After Walz’s national loss, something shifted. On the Friday morning of his return three days after the election, Walz convened a small meeting with his chief of staff, Chris Schmitter, his general counsel, Flanagan and Dominic McQuerry, who was then the senior adviser to the lieutenant governor, according to multiple sources who knew of the meeting.

None of the participants spoke about the meeting, but within a month McQuerry had left the office after nearly two years. His social media post gave no explanation for his departure or an indication he had lined up new work.

Despite Minnesota actually being a purple state--Republican and Democrat control of the legislature see-saw back and forth, and the Minnesota House is currently tied in numbers of each--the Republican Party itself is in a shambles and can't elect anyone to statewide office anymore. 

So the Walz-Flanagan split may actually matter, giving Republicans an opening they otherwise wouldn't be able to take advantage of. Perhaps the infighting in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (our Democrats) may overcome the disadvantage of an impotent Republican Party. And with a Republican governor the party might actually get its act together. 

Stranger things have happened.

The fallout from Harris' disastrous campaign may be a redder Minnesota, and a redder Minnesota may help solidify Republican gains at the national level.