Governor Tim Walz is back in St. Paul still settling back into a routine at the Minnesota State Capitol a month after an Election Day loss as the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

“It was a privilege to do that,” Walz said of running with Harris on the Democratic ticket in one of his first interviews since the election last month. “It was a privilege to be asked to serve with Vice President Harris. Certainly got to see America!”

The interview was conducted in his office where he’s been busy preparing for the 2024 legislative session. Although disappointed by the election loss, he says getting back to work in Minnesota is gratifying.

“Coming back here now and having the privilege to do this work feels really good,” he says. “I’m actually really looking forward to this legislative session with some different dynamics around it.”

The major dynamic that is changing is that Republicans will have at least a share of control of the Minnesota House where the balance of power now stands at 67-67 with one pending election contest. Walz has already been trying to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans knowing he might have to mend some fences after a bruising presidential campaign.

“I’ve been spending these weeks calling these new leaders,” Walz says. “Having meetings together and I think our politics have gotten really difficult. The presidential campaign is brutal and this one was particularly ugly and all of those things, but…we do have to get (a budget) done for Minnesotans.”

A budget forecast released this week shows a $616 million budget surplus for 2026 and 2027 but a potential $5.1 billion deficit in 2028 and 2029.

He admits it’s taken some time to come down from the excitement of his unexpected selection as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. He describes a frantic morning after getting the call from Harris on Aug. 6 and then hours later being flown to Philadelphia on a private jet to be introduced at Tempe University.

Walz describes a funny moment right before he took the stage with Harris. “I’m standing at the curtain with the vice president of the United States with 15 to 20-thousand people and the national press out there and she turns to me and says, ‘Well let’s not screw this up’… and we went out there,” he says with a laugh.

The next thing he knew, Harris introduced him to thunderous applause from the partisan crowd. “The next vice president of the United States, Governor Tim Walz!” she yells into the microphone.

Although they suffered a decisive loss to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, Walz says he’ll let others decide whether he helped or hurt Harris.

“History will write that,” he says. “It wasn’t my decision to make. It was the vice president’s decision… as I said in this campaign, when you asked the question, were there things you could have done differently?  Since we lost, the answer is obviously yes. On this one, I did the best I could.”

Walz says the loss especially stings because he felt so confident going into Election Day based on poll numbers and enthusiasm at rallies. “It felt like at the rallies, at the things I was going to, the shops I was going in that the momentum was going our way and it obviously wasn’t at the end… So yeah, I was a little surprised. I thought we had a positive message and I thought the country was ready for that.”

As for his political future after his final two years in his second term, does he plan to run for re-election?

“What I’ve always said is that has more to do with where the people are at. If there’s a desire that it might make sense if they’d like to see us run again, we’d talk to folks, but at this time, I’m just trying to get through the session.”

As for whether he’d ever be interested in running for a U.S. Senate seat someday, he says that’s never been a goal for him.

You can see much more of this interview with Governor Walz on Sunday at 10 a.m. on “At Issue with Tom Hauser.”