A couple of weeks ago, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.
But in a matter of weeks, Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies and relish his plain-spoken attacks on former President Donald Trump.
That support helped him become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Here’s a closer look at Walz.
Where did he get his start in politics?
Walz grew up in rural Nebraska. He served 24 years in the Army National Guard and retired as a command sergeant major. He received a social science degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska.
Walz met his wife, Gwen, while the two were teachers. They have two children.
Walz had been teaching high school social studies when he decided to run for office. In 2006 he knocked off a Republican incumbent, a rare feat, in Minnesota’s 1st District, a rural area that leans Republican.
Walz spent six terms in the U.S. House before he was elected governor in 2018. He won by more than 11 percentage points, propelled by voters in the cities and the Minneapolis suburbs. He ran again and won in 2022.
What are his top issues?
The political landscape has become more favorable for Walz during his second term as governor. Democrats flipped the state Senate, giving them control of both chambers of the state Legislature.
Walz has helped Democrats check off progressive policies from their wish list, enshrining the right to abortion in state law, legalizing recreational marijuana, setting paid medical and family leave requirements for employees and expanding background checks for gun purchases.
Walz, a hunter, used to be supported by the National Rifle Association. But he renounced the group after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. He has said he was influenced by his daughter’s pleas to do something to curb gun violence.
What is he known for?
Walz received some national attention after passing his ambitious Democratic agenda. But he didn’t become a cable news fixture or the subject of memes until recently.
During Trump’s most recent visits to Minnesota, a state last carried by a Republican presidential candidate in 1972, Walz was asked to deliver preemptive counterattacks. His catchphrase about the former president and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio — “These guys are just weird” — ricocheted online and through the party, becoming a kind of unofficial campaign slogan.
In Republican circles, Walz is associated with the riots that erupted in Minneapolis after a police officer murdered George Floyd. Republicans have slammed Walz over his handling of the arson and the looting that followed; a five-mile stretch of Minneapolis sustained heavy damage, and a police precinct was set on fire. The governor deployed hundreds of National Guard troops three days after Floyd’s murder, but his critics have argued that he was slow to respond.
Trump has tried to take credit for quelling the violence there.
“I saved your city,” Trump said during a fundraiser in May for the Minnesota Republicans in St. Paul, adding, “If you didn’t have me as president, you wouldn’t have Minneapolis today.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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