It’s official. Vice President Kamala Harris has announced that she will be the governor of Minnesota. Tim Walz (D) will be her running mate in her bid for the White House.
If you’re frantically Googling Walz’s name to figure out who he is and why he’s already receiving near-unanimous praise from Democrats, here are six key things you should know about him to save yourself some time.
1. Walz has been governor of Minnesota since 2018.
Last year, after Democrats won a legislative “trifecta” in Minnesota, Walz signed a generation of liberal reforms in law in just four months, making his state a national leader in progressive policies.
Some of these new laws require Minnesota to offer 12 weeks of paid parental and medical leave, provide free breakfast and lunch to all public school students, restore voting rights to tens of thousands of ex-convicts, protect abortion rights and the rights of transgender children, and transition to 100% carbon-free energy by 2040.
2. Walz grew up in Nebraska and worked on a farm.
As a child, he worked on his family’s farm in Nebraska, and as a teenager, he joined the National Guard to help pay college tuition. After earning his teaching degree, Walz taught for a year in China and then in Nebraska before moving to Minnesota in 1996.
He worked for years as a social studies teacher and football coach in the Mankato school district in southern Minnesota before running for Congress in 2006. Walz, who is significantly bald, recently joked that he owes his hair loss to 20 years of overseeing a school cafeteria.
“You don’t leave that job with a full head of hair,” he said. wrote on social media. “Believe me.”
3. Walz served as a congressman for 12 years.
He represented Minnesota’s 1st congressional district from 2007 to 2019. It is a rural part of the state, and Walz defeated a Republican to win the seat. During his tenure, Walz was a powerful voice on veterans’ issues and became the top Democrat in the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
As a member of Congress, Walz’s pro-gun voting record earned him an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. But he the NRA criticized after the 2018 Parkland, Florida high school massacre and as governor signed into law universal background checks and a ‘red flag’ policy.
4. Walz is the father of two children.
The Democratic governor’s children, Hope and Gus, are now 23 and 17. Walz has spoken openly about how difficult it was for him and his wife to have children.
“My wife and I have used reproductive services at the Mayo Clinic, and my daughter Hope was named Hope for a reason,” Walz told HuffPost in February while in Washington, D.C., in his role as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.
“Because we’ve been married for eight years, we don’t have kids, we want kids. We got Hope through things like this,” Walz said.
Walz repeated the story last week during a virtual “White Dudes for Harris” fundraiser. He didn’t specifically say that he and his wife used in vitro fertilization, but rather “things like IVF” that he said Republicans would ban.
Abortion rights and access to reproductive health care in general have been major policy priorities for Democrats since the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in 2022.
In a press release announcing the selection of Walz, the Harris campaign said Walz’s personal experience would “validate his commitment to ensuring that all Americans have access to this care.”
5. Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years.
He retired in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the highest ranks. Walz has credited his service in the Army National Guard for honing his leadership skills as a congressman and governor.
“In the Garde, you put your community first,” Walz said in a 2020 army press release. “Everything you do, you do to ensure the health, safety and security of the people who count on you. And as governor, those are principles of servant leadership that I rely on every day.”
6. The Midwestern Democrat likes to joke.
Walz’s candid approach to politics and his willingness to engage with people on social media as anyone else would have attracted many fans.
Walz regularly shares photos of his cat, which means the crucial The voting bloc of the ‘childless cat ladies’ will almost certainly be behind him. He involves family members in hilarious, yet official public announcements as governor.
Walz recently went viral when he said on TV appearances that he just thinks Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, and MAGA supporters in general are “weird people.”
Harris’ campaign and other Democrats picked up on his “odd” comment and amplified it in their message.
