Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) pushed for the abolishment of the Electoral College during a Tuesday fundraiser in Sacramento, California, at the private residence of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
“I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go,” Walz said, according to a pool report. “But that’s not the world we live in.”
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“So we need to win Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win,” Walz continued in remarks to donors. “We need to be in Reno, Nevada, and win. And the help that you give here today helps make that happen.”
It’s not the first time Walz has expressed dismay for the Electoral College and favoring the popular vote as a credible pathway to selecting a president.
In May 2023, Walz signed legislation enrolling Minnesota in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a plan that prioritizes electing presidents by national popular vote rather than the Electoral College.
States that have enacted the compact would award electoral votes by national popular vote, eschewing the current standard of electoral votes being awarded by the candidate who wins the most votes in respective states.
This would be enacted if enough states surpassing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election agreed to the compact; so far only 17 states and the District of Columbia have signed on.
Democrats, and a few Republicans, have lamented that the GOP has not won the popular vote in 20 years since former President George W. Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry in 2004.
Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley frequently commented that the GOP “lost the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections” before she exited the 2024 race.
But there is not enough political enthusiasm for undoing the Electoral College despite the public’s wish for it, which Walz acknowledged in his remarks at the Sacramento fundraiser.
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A September survey from the Pew Research Center showed that 63% of voters would prefer that the person who wins the most votes nationally become the president, while 35% favor retaining the Electoral College system.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
