- Who is Tim Walz?
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has chosen Tim Walz as her running mate, a man whose biography starkly contrasts with her own. The former California prosecutor has opted for a former teacher from the Midwest, a veteran, and a hunter.
Key points at a glance:
The 60-year-old Walz has been Minnesota's governor since 2019, previously serving many years as a representative in the House. Before politics, he was a teacher. The father of two is not a strong national figure but is known for his down-to-earth and direct way of communicating political messages.
Walz was born in 1964 in a small town in rural Nebraska. He often speaks about how his mother struggled to make ends meet after his father's death. After high school, Walz joined the National Guard. He graduated from college in 1989 with a degree in social sciences.
Walz spent a year teaching abroad before returning to the U.S. to serve full-time in the National Guard and eventually take a job as a high school teacher and football coach.
Walz met his future wife while teaching at the same school. He won his first election in 2006 and became a U.S. representative. In 2018, he ran for governor and was re-elected in 2022.
Currently, Walz is the chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), a group of governors who are Democrats. He also sits on several national party committees.
Former Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp told the "New York Times" that Walz "seems like someone with life experience that's comparable to many people in rural America."
As governor, he has advocated for free school meals, protecting the right to abortion, strengthening voting rights, expanding renewable energy, tax cuts for the middle class, and expanding paid leave for workers in Minnesota.
His stance on guns has evolved over the years. "I'm a veteran, a hunter, and a gun owner. But I'm also a father. And for many years, I was a teacher," he wrote on the X platform in late July. Gun laws are not a threat to his rights. "It's about protecting our children."
Tim Walz, the chosen running mate of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, began his career as a teacher before entering politics. As the governor of Minnesota since 2019, Walz has advocated for policies that benefit teachers and students, such as providing free school meals and expanding paid leave in Minnesota.
