DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) 鈥� Minnesota Gov. stood before hundreds of Iowans on Friday and admitted he doesn't have all the answers about issues facing the country.
鈥淚f I did, we wouldn't be in this goddamn mess,鈥� Walz said.
Walz is back on the road to talk to voters, but he鈥檚 no longer a . He isn鈥檛 any kind of candidate, at least not for now.
Walz is reemerging after , granting interviews to national media and speaking to hundreds attending the Montana Democratic Party鈥檚 annual dinner earlier this month.
Now, he鈥檚 kicking off a tour of town halls in competitive congressional districts represented by Republicans, launched by a post on social media in response to guidance from House Speaker Mike Johnson that GOP representatives , saying demonstrations outside of them were the work of 鈥減rofessional protesters.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a responsibility in this time of chaos where elected officials need to hear what people are irritated about,鈥� Walz said. 鈥淎nd I would argue that Democratic officials should hear the primal scream that鈥檚 coming from America and do something.鈥�
Walz said he wasn't there to personally attack U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, whose district includes the high school auditorium that nearly 1,000 people filled on Friday. But Walz called on Nunn to answer questions in public. Nunn won reelection in Iowa鈥檚 3rd congressional district by about 4 percentage points in 2024, a margin of just under 16,000 voters.
The Iowa Democratic Party got Walz's call Monday evening and got to work planning the event Tuesday, said Paige Godden, the state party's communications director.
The crowd gave Walz a standing ovation. Many were wearing shirts with messages of political activism. A schoolteacher, a high school senior and a VA medical center worker asked Walz questions about health care, financial aid and funding for veterans.
Mike Suggett of Pleasant Hill, just east of Des Moines, is a retired schoolteacher who said he taught Nunn in junior high school. He鈥檚 written to the lawmaker but said he gets 鈥渃anned form letters鈥� in return. Suggett said Nunn is 鈥渢oo much of a coward鈥� to show up.
鈥淲e鈥檇 much prefer to hear from the people who represent us,鈥� Suggett said.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, Nunn said he鈥檚 held 鈥渉undreds of listening sessions鈥� to hear directly from Iowans and is delivering on the change 鈥淚owans voted for in November.鈥�
鈥淲hile out-of-state Democrats hold fundraisers disguised as forums, we鈥檙e focused on real results,鈥� he said.
Other Republican leaders in Iowa and Minnesota, including Gov. Kim Reynolds, criticized the visit and said Walz should focus on his own state. Emily Tuttle, spokesperson for the National Republican Campaign Committee, called it a 鈥渕anufactured production.鈥�
Walz stopped in Iowa several times in 2023 as a surrogate for then-President Joe Biden, floating around the state fair, fundraising for local Democrats and holding media availabilities to contrast Biden with the Republican candidates campaigning in the run-up to Iowa鈥檚 GOP caucuses.
He goes Saturday to Nebraska, where he grew up, with tentative stops to follow in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. The focus on Midwest neighbors and states in the Rust Belt isn鈥檛 a coincidence 鈥� many of them are places Walz didn鈥檛 visit during last year鈥檚 shortened campaign after Biden dropped out and made way for Vice President Kamala Harris atop the Democratic ticket.
Walz passed on running for Senate next year but could be a contender for the 2028 presidential nomination.
On 2024鈥檚 outcome, Walz said Democrats 鈥渘eed to acknowledge鈥� that some voters didn鈥檛 see a difference between the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets and that the Democrats' message on issues like immigration and Social Security didn't resonate. He said he's listening to learn why.
Andrea Smith, a veteran, and her 19-year-old daughter, Liberty, said they were already going to be in Des Moines 鈥� about 120 miles from home in West Branch 鈥� to rally for veteran鈥檚 rights, and they decided to stay to see Walz.
鈥淲e related a lot to him,鈥� Liberty Smith said. 鈥淗e felt real during the election season.鈥�
Showing up to the Walz event was May Dehaan's way of trying to get Nunn to notice that his constituents are frustrated. She wore a shirt that read: 鈥淭his is not normal."
鈥淥bviously, he鈥檚 not listening to his constituents. He鈥檚 following the GOP talking points.鈥� said Dehaan, a retired interior designer from suburban Clive, who has herself written to Nunn. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting tired of being ignored.鈥�
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Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press
