Who is Tim Walz? Kamala Harris's VP pick accepts Democratic nomination in DNC speech.
Less than three weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz formally accepted the vice presidential nomination Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"It is the honor of a lifetime," Walz said on Aug. 6 after Harris announced him as her pick. "I’m all in."
Since then, Walz has appeared alongside Harris at several rallies in battleground states. But his primetime speech at the convention will be his biggest of the campaign so far.
Here are some things to know about Walz.
?? Walz’s basic bio
Walz, 60, was born and raised in rural Nebraska. He attended public college in Nebraska, where he met his wife, and they moved to her home state of Minnesota. He worked as a high school social studies teacher and football coach in Mankato, Minn., until he ran for Congress in 2006. He ran for governor in 2018 and won reelection in 2022. He currently chairs the Democratic governors’ national campaign effort.
?? Walz’s family
Walz and his wife, Gwen, have two children together, Hope and Gus. Earlier this year, the governor shared his family's struggle to have children and the IVF journey that got them there. "It's not by chance that we named our daughter Hope," he said.
He credits his children with keeping him in touch with Gen Z and with reversing his position on gun control.
It’s true. I’m a veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner. But I’m also a dad. And for many years, I was a teacher.
I know basic gun safety isn’t a threat to my rights. It’s about keeping our kids safe.
I had an A rating from the NRA. Now I get straight F's. And I sleep just fine. https://t.co/R3ZX4A35GB— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 27, 2024
?? Military service
Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and served 24 years, reaching the rank of command sergeant major before retiring as a master sergeant. Republicans — including vice presidential nominee JD Vance, a Marine veteran — have criticized Walz over his decision to leave the service and run for Congress in 2005 when his unit was preparing to go to war in Iraq. He won a House seat the following year.
“In 2005, I felt the call of duty again, this time giving service to my country in the halls of Congress,” Walz said at a campaign stop earlier this month. “My students inspired me to run for that office, and I was proud to make it to Washington. I was a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a champion of our men and women in uniform. I’m going to say it again as clearly as I can, I am damn proud of my service to this country.
?? ‘Weird’ attack
Walz was among the first prominent Democrats to start labeling Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “weird,” an attack line that Harris and her campaign have consistently repeated.
He recently explained that the anti-Trump messaging was about avoiding “lift[ing] this guy up.”
“Yes, he's a threat to global democracy and global peace, in my opinion,” Walz said in a podcast interview on Pod Save America. “I think your constitutional rights are under threat. That becomes almost overwhelming, and it's not inspirational. And I think taking them down to what this is: This 'weird' thing is not an insult; it's an observation. And people saying, 'Well, Gov. Walz came up with this.' No, people are telling me this. My Republican friends are telling me this.”
?? Folksy messenger
Walz often appears in casual clothes, wearing jeans, T-shirts and baseball caps at official events. He frequently discusses his rural roots, and he isn’t shy about using them to take digs at Vance, whose bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, documents the plight of Appalachia.
“I guarantee you he can’t shoot pheasants like I can,” Walz recently said of Vance.
The governor has also generated headlines and viral social media videos with some of his one-liners. Pointing to Vance’s 2021 comment suggesting Harris was a “childless cat lady,” Walz quipped back: "My God, they went after cat people. Good luck with that. Turn on the internet and see what cat people do when you go after them."
??? Liberal record
Walz’s record in office is likely to excite some progressives and draw criticism from Republicans.
As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune noted, Minnesota Democrats “set new climate goals, pushing Minnesota to have 100% clean electricity by 2040 while creating a statewide paid leave program, legalizing marijuana for adults, passing stricter gun laws and giving unauthorized immigrants access to driver's licenses.”
He also signed bills into law that enshrined the right to an abortion, as well as gender-affirming care.
One aspect of his record that may come under additional scrutiny is how Minnesota’s government handled the riots that followed the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. According to the Star-Tribune, “after-action assessments of the riot response found there was a breakdown in communication between government officials.”
?? Reactions
After Harris picked Walz as her running mate, President Biden released a statement saying it was a "great decision." Former President Barack Obama said, "Kamala Harris has chosen an ideal partner — and made it clear exactly what she stands for."
Trump's campaign, meanwhile, released a statement declaring that Walz "would be a rubber stamp for Kamala to wage war on American energy, continue aiding and abetting an invasion on our border, and embolden our adversaries."
Correction: This story initially said Walz retired as a command sergeant major; he reached that rank but retired as a master sergeant.
