In a high school auditorium in Eagan, Minn., a suburb just south of Minneapolis-St. Paul Walz addressed a crowd of supporters with his thoughts on Trump’s election victory, a result he said left him searching for answers.

“It’s difficult to understand why so many of our citizens, people we fought so long and hard for, ended up choosing the other path,” Walz said. “It’s hard to imagine what this path will look like for the next four years.”

Several audience members donned Harris Walz camouflage 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, gave a speech.

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

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

Walz also said Americans want the freedom to live their lives as they choose, a message that has 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 unions.

“Look, we know what’s coming. We know because they told us,” Walz said. “The moment they try to bring a hateful agenda to this state, I will be ready to stand up and fight.”

Walz returned from the presidential campaign trail to a new era of divided state government, now that Republicans appear to have broken the total Democratic control that helped put him on Kamala Harris’ radar. He was elected governor in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 in an election that gave Democrats both houses of the state legislature.

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

Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, who often joined her husband on the campaign trail, said Minnesota would remain a safe haven. In analyzing the election results, she said the Walzes found comfort in their favorite Bible verse: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.” »

“Minnesota, we 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 heal the political divides that widened during the election.

“Maybe when we have a little reprieve from this campaign, we can look at each other and see not enemies, but neighbors,” Walz said. “Maybe I’ll sit down with coffee or Diet Mountain Dew and just talk.”