From Teacher to VP Candidate: The ABCs of Tim Walz

The name 👤Tim Walz has been on the lips of those waiting to see who Vice President Kamala Harris would pick as her running mate.

Now that she has made her choice, one question lingers — who is 👤Tim Walz?

Turns out, the answer is not as elusive as one may think.

The 60-year-old Walz is from rural Nebraska. He received a social science degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska, per the New York Times. He served in the Army National Guard for 24 years and was a command sergeant major.

He met his wife, Gwen, met when the two were teachers. They have two children.

While teaching social studies, Walz decided to run for office. In 2006 he beat a Republican incumbent in Minnesota’s First District, an historically Republican rural area.

He represented that district in the House of Representatives for six terms and he was elected the state’s governor in 2018. He was re-elected won in 2022.

As governor, Walz has accomplished much to the delight of fellow Democrats.

This includes progressive policies such as preserving the right to abortion in the state, legalizing recreational marijuana use, setting paid medical and family leave requirements for employees and expanding background checks for gun purchases.

Walz, a hunter, was previously backed by the National Rifle Association.

After the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., he renounced the NRA after his daughter sought for him to help curb gun violence.

Only recently has he been thrust into the public spotlight.

That all changed when he spoke of Trump and his running mate JD Vance, saying, “These guys are just weird.” That sentiment has since become a rallying cry unofficial campaign slogan for Democrats.

Republicans have criticized him for how he handled the arson and the looting that followed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Critics claim he responded too slowly to the violence.

Trump has tried to take credit for restoring peace to Minneapolis.

“I saved your city,” Trump said while in St. Paul in May. “If you didn’t have me as president, you wouldn’t have Minneapolis today.”