Current:Home > ScamsWho is Tim Walz? Things to know about Kamala Harris’ choice for vice president -BeyondWealth Learning
Who is Tim Walz? Things to know about Kamala Harris’ choice for vice president
View
Date:2025-04-13 17:53:04
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has decided on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in her bid for the White House, according to people familiar with the choice. The 60-year-old Democrat and military veteran rose to the forefront with a series of plain-spoken television appearances in the days after President Joe Biden decided not to seek a second term. He has made his state a bastion of liberal policy and, this year, one of the few states to protect fans buying tickets online for Taylor Swift concerts and other live events.
Her choice of Walz was confirmed by three people familiar with the decision who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been made public.
Some things to know about Walz:
WALZ COMES FROM RURAL AMERICA
It would be hard to find a more vivid representative of the American heartland than Walz. Born in West Point, Nebraska, a community of about 3,500 people northwest of Omaha, Walz joined the Army National Guard and became a teacher in Nebraska.
He and his wife moved to Mankato in southern Minnesota in the 1990s. That’s where he taught social studies and coached football at Mankato West High School, including for the 1999 team that won the first of the school’s four state championships. He still points to his union membership there.
Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring from a field artillery battalion in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the military’s highest enlisted ranks.
HE HAS A PROVEN ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH CONSERVATIVE VOTERS
In his first race for Congress, Walz upset a Republican incumbent. That was in 2006, when he won in a largely rural, southern Minnesota congressional district against six-term Rep. Gil Gutknecht. Walz capitalized on voter anger with then-President George W. Bush and the Iraq war.
During six terms in the U.S. House, Walz championed veterans’ issues.
He’s also shown a down-to-earth side, partly through social media video posts with his daughter, Hope. One last fall showed them trying a Minnesota State Fair ride, “The Slingshot,” after they bantered about fair food and her being a vegetarian.
HE COULD HELP THE TICKET IN KEY MIDWESTERN STATES
While Walz isn’t from one of the crucial “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where both sides believe they need to win, he’s right next door. He also could ensure that Minnesota stays in the hands of Democrats.
That’s important because former President Donald Trump has portrayed Minnesota as being in play this year, even though the state hasn’t elected a Republican to statewide office since 2006. A GOP presidential candidate hasn’t carried the state since President Richard Nixon’s landslide in 1972, but Trump has already campaigned there.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
- Stay informed. Keep your pulse on the news with breaking news email alerts. Sign up here.
When Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton decided not to seek a third term in 2018, Walz campaigned and won the office on a “One Minnesota” theme.
Walz also speaks comfortably about issues that matter to voters in the Rust Belt. He’s been a champion of Democratic causes, including union organizing, workers’ rights and a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
HE HAS EXPERIENCE WITH DIVIDED GOVERNMENT
In his first term as governor, Walz faced a Legislature split between a Democratic-led House and a Republican-controlled Senate that resisted his proposals to use higher taxes to boost money for schools, health care and roads. But he and lawmakers brokered compromises that made the state’s divided government still seem productive.
Bipartisan cooperation became tougher during his second year as he used the governor’s emergency power during the COVID-19 pandemic to shutter businesses and close schools. Republicans pushed back and forced out some agency heads. Republicans also remain critical of Walz over what they see as his slow response to sometimes violent unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
Things got easier for Walz in his second term, after he defeated Republican Scott Jensen, a physician known nationally as a vaccine skeptic. Democrats gained control of both legislative chambers, clearing the way for a more liberal course in state government, aided by a huge budget surplus.
Walz and lawmakers eliminated nearly all of the state abortion restrictions enacted in the past by Republicans, protected gender-affirming care for transgender youth and legalized the recreational use of marijuana.
Rejecting Republican pleas that the state budget surplus be used to cut taxes, Democrats funded free school meals for children, free tuition at public colleges for students in families earning under $80,000 a year, a paid family and medical leave program and health insurance coverage regardless of a person’s immigration status.
HE HAS AN EAR FOR SOUND-BITE POLITICS
Walz called Republican nominee Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance “just weird” in an MSNBC interview last month and the Democratic Governors Association — which Walz chairs — amplified the point n a post on X. Walz later reiterated the characterization on CNN, citing Trump’s repeated mentions of the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter from the film “Silence of the Lambs” in stump speeches.
The word quickly morphed into a theme for Harris and other Democrats, and has a chance to be a watchword of the undoubtably weird 2024 election.
___
Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Digging Daisy Jones & The Six's '70s Style? Amazon's Epic Collection Is the Vibe
- How The Biden Administration Is Confronting A Surge In Cyberattacks
- Christine Taylor Reveals What Led to Reconciliation With Ben Stiller After 2017 Breakup
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Today’s Hoda Kotb Shares Heartfelt Message to Supporters After Daughter’s Hospitalization
- 2 dead, girl injured as hot air balloon catches fire outside of Mexico City
- Ukraine fumes as Russia assumes presidency of the United Nations Security Council
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia likely approved at the highest levels, ex-U.S. ambassador says
Ranking
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- A Japanese girl just graduated from junior high as a class of one, as the light goes out on a small town.
- How Bitcoin Has Fueled Ransomware Attacks
- Here's the Real Story Behind Joe Gorga's Run-In With Teresa Giudice's Ex Joe Giudice
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Amazon Has Kate Spade Earrings on Sale for $28, Plus So Many Other Cute & Affordable Studs & Hoops
- World Meteorological Organization retiring Fiona and Ian as hurricane names after deadly storms
- Shop These 21 Accessories To Help Make the Most of Your Crew's Music Festival Experience
Recommendation
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
California Approves A Pilot Program For Driverless Rides
Transcript: Sen. Chris Murphy on Face the Nation, April 2, 2023
This Amazon Running Jacket With 7,600+ 5-Star Reviews Is Currently On Sale
'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
Drew Barrymore Shares Her Realistic Self-Care Practices, Doesn't Do the F--king Bubble Baths
See Reign Disick’s Transformation That Proves He Is Kourtney Kardashian’s Mini-Me
A New Way To Understand Automation