Who is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' VP running mate?
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was selected as the running mate for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this summer.
On Aug. 6, Harris announced in a social media post that the Midwestern progressive would join her on the ticket heading into the November election. Harris and Walz have been campaigning ever since, with a focus on the seven battleground states, starting with Walz's initial appearance in Philadelphia.
"As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his," Harris said upon selecting Walz as her running mate. "It's great to have him on the team."
Walz was among a deep bench of potential running mates that included Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Who is Tim Walz?
Now in his second term as governor, Walz, 60, also served 12 years as a U.S. congressman before his successful 2018 run to lead the state.
Before his political career, the Nebraska native served in the Army National Guard for nearly a quarter century. A graduate of Nebraska's Chadron State College, he taught high school in China for a year after completing his degree in the late 80s. He went on to teach at Mankato West High School for 12 years and served as an assistant football coach. He also helped form the school's first gay-straight alliance group in the 90s.
Walz met his wife Gwen while both were teaching in Nebraska. The couple have two children, Hope and Gus. In her statement announcing Walz as her running mate, Harris noted how the Walz family "struggled with years of fertility challenges and had their daughter, Hope, through reproductive health care like IVF - further cementing his commitment to ensuring all Americans have access to this care."
During Walz's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, 17-year-old Gus Walz went viral for his unabashedly emotional reaction to his father's speech, exclaiming "That's my dad!" The teen's exuberance captured hearts, becoming one of the defining images of his Walz's address.
The Walzes disclosed to People magazine that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and an anxiety disorder. They called his condition "his secret power" and said he's "brilliant" and poised for success.
Walz's political career
Walz led Minnesota's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2006 to 2019 before his successful gubernatorial run.
During his time as governor, Walz experienced several major crises. In his first term, he faced harsh criticism from Republicans amid the dual dilemmas of the COVID-19 pandemic and the violent uprising that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.
His use of emergency powers, mask mandates and business shutdowns during the pandemic outraged his critics, as did his perceived delay in activating the National Guard to help restore order on Twin Cities streets during the unrest, which drew the ire of then-President Donald Trump.
During his successful 2022 reelection campaign against GOP candidate Dr. Scott Jensen, who was banned from some social media platforms for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, Walz consistently defended the "hard decisions" he made during the pandemic.
He went on to defeat Jensen by nearly 200,000 votes, leading to his second term as governor that coincided with Democrats taking back the reins of the state senate to control both chambers as well as the governor's office.
Since Democrats' trifecta power in state government, Walz has signed several progressive policy wins into law, including the legalization of recreational marijuana, protection of abortion access in the state, free school meals for all children, clean energy benchmarks, and a "red flag" law that gives state courts the power to legally confiscate guns from residents who pose a risk to themselves and others.
