Gov. Tim Walz will deliver his seventh State of the State address Wednesday evening in front of a narrowly divided Minnesota Legislature with weeks left to strike a deal on the state budget.

It also comes at a moment when his political future is unclear.

Walz is openly mulling a run for a historic third consecutive term as governor in 2026 and plans to make his decision after session adjourns. The former vice presidential candidate has also left the door open to a possible national bid in 2028. Walz has traveled across the country this spring to hold town hall-style events in Republican districts.

His address will touch on both state and national issues, according to a spokesperson in his office.

Walz will talk about the last six years of his administration and tout Minnesota as a "state that values and protects security, opportunity, and freedom."

The governor will contrast Minnesota's model with "the chaos and turmoil Trump is causing to every program, service, or policy meant to help people," his spokesperson said.

His speech will go hard on President Donald Trump, while being generous to Minnesota Republicans, who Walz must work alongside to pass a new state budget. Lawmakers have just weeks remaining before their May 19 deadline to adjourn.

The state is constitutionally required to have a balanced budget by July 1 or parts of state government could shut down.

First elected in 2018, Walz's first term as governor was dominated by his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd's killing by a police officer and the unprecedented destruction in Minneapolis that followed. He was re-elected in 2022 alongside narrow Democratic majorities in the Legislature. Together, they passed sweeping changes to the state, from codifying abortion rights to legalizing recreational marijuana.

The Minnesota House is now evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and Democrats control the Senate by two votes pending the results of an April 29 special election.

Legislative leaders will offer reaction to his speech after it wraps up.

How to watch

Walz will deliver his speech on the Minnesota House floor starting at 7 p.m. The speech will be streamed live by House media services.

MPR News is also streaming the speech, and it will be aired live on the radio.

TPT's Almanac at the Capitol will also air the address live.

WCCO is streaming the speech on its website.