Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s approval rating in his state has plummeted to a level below President Donald Trump as the state’s top executive continues to face blowback from the massive fraud scandal that erupted under his watch.
Walz, who is leaving office in January after announcing he will not run for re-election, has an approval rating of 39% in the state and a disapproval rating of 53% with 8% not sure, according to a new poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc. for KARE 11, the Minnesota Star Tribune, and the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The poll surveyed 800 Minnesota registered voters likely to participate in the November general election via live telephone interviews from June 8-10, 2026 and the numbers represent Walz’s lowest approval rating since taking office six years ago.
On the fraud issue, 45% of voters say they trust Republicans to fix it compared to 38% who chose Democrats and 14% who said neither party.
The same polling unit registered Trump’s approval rating in the state at 41% this week, which conservatives on social media took notice of.
“Tim Walz has a lower approval rating than President Trump in deep blue Minnesota right now,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. “That’s how toxic the fraud has become for Democrats.”
Over the past year, the Trump administration has taken a major interest in Minnesota and unleashed its fraud task force into the state resulting in raids, arrests, and further investigations into how the fraud was able to grow so quickly in the state.
Another contentious issue revealed by the poll is Minnesota’s new state flag, supported by Walz, that 50% of voters say they disapprove of.
The state’s new flag has become a cultural and political flashpoint in a state already reeling from one of the largest fraud scandals in U.S. history, heavily involving the Somali immigrant community. The flag was approved by a 13-member commission created by the Democratic-controlled legislature in 2023. Critics of the flag say it is overly simplistic and some have even knocked it as bearing a resemblance to Somalia’s national flag.
“Two issues that unite a majority of Minnesotans are the rejection of Tim Walz and his failed policies and our hatred for the Minnesota Somali state flag,” Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital. “The flag is an embarrassment and good on the cities who are actively removing it from their city halls and communities.”
“President Trump is more popular than Tim Walz in his home state because Minnesotans are sick and tired of Walz siding with illegal aliens and Somali fraudsters over his hardworking, taxpaying constituents.” he continued. “The legacy of Tim Walz will be the fires that destroyed Minneapolis, the fraud that he allowed to be stolen under his watch, and his failures that have harmed our great state.”
Fraud appears to have played a significant role in Walz’s cratering approval, which is evidenced by a 10-point drop in his support since last year as the fraud scandal has dominated headlines.
Only 1% of Republicans in the state say they approve of the job Walz is doing to go along with 73% of Democrats and 32% of Independents.
“America rejected Tim Walz in 2024,” Republican Minnesota State Sen. Michael Holmstrom told Fox News Digital. “Now Minnesotans are following suit. The good news for Tim is that, now that his record is on full display, he could soon be the most popular guy in the jailhouse.”
Republican State Sen. Mark Koran told Fox News Digital that the polls “really tell you what Gov. Walz has done to himself.”
“He let his fraud crisis blow up and didn’t do anything to fix it while he was busy shoving all this radical stuff into state government,” Koran said. “After years of extreme far-left ideology and policies that don’t help normal people, Minnesotans have had enough. His legacy is going to be the fraud crisis and desecrating the state flag. Minnesota is just tired of it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report
