Tim Walz gets Harris nod: 5 things to know

Vice President Harris on Tuesday tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate for the 2024 election, capping off the governor’s rapid rise into the national spotlight.

Walz, who is 60, will join Harris on the campaign trail beginning Tuesday with a rally in Philadelphia.

Here are five things to know about Walz.

He worked as a teacher before getting into politics

Walz was born in rural Nebraska and enlisted in the Army National Guard when he turned 17.

He eventually took a job teaching social studies to high school students. He also worked as a football coach, where he helped lead the team to a state championship. He was separately both a lunchroom supervisor and an adviser to the gay-straight alliance.

Walz has often leaned into his biography and upbringing. During a recent MSNBC appearance, Walz noted his hometown had 400 people in it, and his graduating class had a total of 24 students.

A 2006 ad when Walz was first running for Congress also emphasized his biography.

“Sometimes an everyday person comes along and helps put the impossible within our reach,” a narrator says in the ad. “Tim Walz is one of those everyday people: Coach to the state champs. Teacher of the year. Command sergeant major, retiring four years late after a tour supporting the war in Afghanistan.”

A 6-term congressman

Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, defeating incumbent Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) in the general election. Walz went on to serve six terms total in the House.

During his 12 years in Congress, Walz rose to become the top Democrat on the powerful Veterans Affairs Committee. He also served on the Committee on Agriculture.

Walz was popular among his colleagues on Capitol Hill, and he had the distinction of being the highest-ranking enlisted soldier in the history of Congress.

During his time in Congress, he backed a minimum wage increase and stem cell research, as well as the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Walz periodically broke with fellow Democrats on some high-profile issues, including in 2014 when he was openly critical of the conference for choosing a leadership team that tilted heavily toward the coasts. And while other Democrats were fiercely defending ObamaCare from GOP attacks, Walz acknowledged the “warts” dogging the massive health care law — and promised not to gloss over them in talks with district voters.

Former A rating from the NRA

One of Walz’s most notable transformations has come on the issue of guns.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) previously endorsed his congressional campaign and gave Walz an “A” rating, a sign of its approval with his stance on gun policy. Walz is a veteran who to this day posts about his appreciation for hunting.

But he has also embraced his shift on guns, and in recent years he has signed major legislation aimed at reducing gun violence.

In 2023, Walz signed a public safety bill that included expanded background checks for gun transfers and the establishment of a so-called “red flag law” in Minnesota, which allows authorities to get court permission to take guns away from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Earlier this year, Walz signed a bill that included a ban on certain firearm triggers.

“When I first started in Congress I had an A rating from the NRA. I have straight Fs now and you know what? I sleep just fine at night,” Walz said in a speech to Minnesota lawmakers last year.

He led ‘weird’ branding against Trump/Vance

Walz’s meteoric rise into the national spotlight can largely be attributed to a turn of phrase he coined as he went on the attack against former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

“It’s true, these guys are just weird,” Walz said in a July 23 MSNBC appearance. “They’re running for ‘He-Man Women-Haters Club’ or something. That’s what they go at. That’s not what people are interested in.”

The description of Trump and Vance as “weird” quickly stuck and became a popular line of attack for other Democrats; Walz’s backers viewed it as a sign of his ability to communicate directly and in a relatable way with potential voters as the party sought a message that would break through.

“These guys are just weird. That’s what they are. So, it isn’t much else. Don’t give them the power,” Walz said July 28. “Are they a threat to democracy? Yes. Are they going to take our rights away? Yes. … But we’re not afraid of weird people. We’re a little bit creeped out, but we’re not afraid.”

Was governor during George Floyd protests

While Walz has implemented plenty of policy during his time as governor, perhaps his most high-profile moment until this week came in the summer of 2020, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Walz was governor as protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis following Floyd’s murder, and images of arson and looting covered the airwaves.

As demonstrations escalated, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) asked Walz to deploy the National Guard. Walz did, but not until the next day, drawing criticism from some that he was too slow to act.

Walz still won reelection in 2022 with 52 percent of the vote.

The Trump campaign had already sought to elevate that Harris in 2020 promoted a bail fund for demonstrators arrested in the protests, and Walz’s handling of the protests will likely be another point of attack.

“By picking Tim Walz as her running mate, Kamala Harris not only bent the knee to the radical left, she doubled down on her dangerously liberal, weak, and failed agenda,” a Trump campaign ad published Tuesday stated.