You might not be able to find a coconut tree in Minnesota, but you will be able to find the new vice presidential nominee. After weeks of speculation, Vice President Kamala Harris has named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 election. “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his,” Harris wrote in a post on X ahead of a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, August 6.
While Walz, 60, has a long history as a progressive Democrat advocating for things like free school meals and expanded paid worker leave, he recently made headlines for referring to former president Donald Trump and other Republicans as “weird” in a series of interviews. It’s a tagline that has since become as memeable as Harris’s coconut tree speech and one that Democrats haven’t shied away from using.
On Monday, Walz appeared at a Minneapolis fundraiser for Harris praising the presidential nominee for bringing positive energy back into politics. “We’ve got an opportunity in front of us, we’ve got a chance to spread joy, we’ve got a chance to put an end to the division in this country and we have an opportunity to bring folks back in,” Walz said during his speech.
At first considered a dark horse contender, Walz became one of three finalists reportedly up for for the position, going up against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Below, we dive deeper into who Walz is, his political background, and what youth organizers think of Harris’s VP nom.
Who is Tim Walz?
Walz is not a career politician. He served as a non-commissioned officer in theArmy National Guard and was a public school teacher. Originally from Nebraska, Walz graduated from Chadron State College. He moved to Minnesota in 1996, according to his official bio. There, he received his master’s from Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2006, he was elected to the House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st congressional district. He defeated the six-term Republican incumbent and was reelected five times before being elected governor, a position he has held since 2019, USA Today reports.
According to the Minnesota Governor’s Office website, he shares two children with his wife, Gwen. The two met while teaching in Nebraska and married in 1994. They moved to Gwen's home state, Minnesota, two years later. There, he worked as a social studies teacher and football coach, leading the Mankato West High School to its first state victory in 1999. He was also the faculty advisor for the school’s first gay-straight alliance, and he worked with his wife to run Educational Travel Adventures, which organized annual summer trips to China for students.
Prior to becoming a teacher, Walz enlisted in the National Guard when he was 17. He says he decided to enlist at the encouragement of his father, who served in the Korean War and paid for his own education through the G.I. Bill, according to Stars and Stripes. He earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year in 1989 and ultimately served for 24 years before retiring in 2005.
What is Walz’s record in office?
In 2004, Walz volunteered for John Kerry’s presidential campaign before eventually announcing his own foray into the world of politics with his 2006 campaign. During his time in the House, he opposed President George W. Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq; advocated for the legalization of recreational cannabis; voted against the $700 billion bill in 2008 that used taxpayer money to bail out financial institutions; and co-sponsored legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Walz continued to champion progressive priorities after becoming governor of Minnesota. In 2023, he signed a bill that guaranteed Minnesotans the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Walz signed a $2.3 billion education budget into law — which his office calls the “single-largest investment in public education” in Minnesota state history — and expanded access to mental health resources for students. He expanded workers' rights, signing into law programs to establish paid family and medical leave, as well as sick days, statewide. He restored voting rights for over 55,000 formerly incarcerated people in Minnesota, signed legislation allowing 16 and 17 year olds to pre-register to vote, and signed into law an elections bill package that included the Minnesota Voting Rights Act.. He also signed a bipartisan bill to lead Minnesota to 100% clean electricity by 2040 and has signed over 40 climate initiatives into law, per the Governor’s Office website.
Walz is a gun owner who once championed gun rights, but says his perspective changed over the years, particularly after the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. After the mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival in 2017 , he donated all of the funding he received from the NRA to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and he supports gun safety regulations. In 2023, he signed a bill that expands universal background checks and imposes a red-flag law in Minnesota.
Walz is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, including “comprehensive non-discrimination protections,” according to The Advocate. In 2023, he signed a bill banning the practice of so-called conversion therapy and another protecting access to gender-affirming care. While Walz has not spoken extensively about the Israel-Hamas war, in March, he indicated that he was in support of a ceasefire.
How Are Young People Responding?
There has been an overwhelming outpouring of support for Harris’s VP pick, especially among young people.
The Sunrise Movement, a youth organization dedicated to stopping climate change, called Walz “the fighter young people need.”
“Tim Walz is an excellent choice for Vice President. This decision shows that Kamala Harris is taking seriously what is needed to rebuild the 2020 Biden-Harris coalition and energize young people, people of color, and union voters ahead of November,” Sunrise communications director Stevie O’Hanlon said in a statement.
Voters of Tomorrow also fully endorsed Walz saying he delivers for young people around the country. “Governor Walz has dedicated his life to educating and empowering young people as a teacher and public servant,” Santiago Mayer, the executive director of the Gen Z voter group said in a statement. “His leadership and unwavering support for LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive freedom, and equity benefit all Americans, including rural and working-class youth.”
“LETS GOOOOOOOO,” March For Our Lives (MFOL), the youth-led gun control organization, cheered on X. Parkland survivor and MFOL co-founder David Hogg also tweeted his support for the VP nominee saying “You guys ready to raise some money for Harris-Walz?” Hogg also joked that Walz is who Republican VP pick JD Vance wants you to think he is.
Walz once responded to Hogg’s X post addressing the politician’s shift on gun control saying that in addition to being a veteran, hunter, and gun owner, he is also a dad and former teacher. “I know basic gun safety isn’t a threat to my rights. It’s about keeping our kids safe. I had an A rating from the NRA. Now I get straight F’s. And I sleep just fine,” he wrote.
The Minnesota governor is a father to two Gen Z children.
Why Did Harris Pick Walz?
In addition to being an advocate for women’s rights and LGBTQ+ equality, some saw Walz as having less baggage than Shapiro, including relating to the war in Gaza. During the vetting process, progressive critics pointed to Shapiro’s criticism of pro-Palestine protests on college campuses.
Walz earned attention for his comments calling Trump and Vance “weird,” which have become a rallying cry for the Democratic Party. As the Washington Post noted, Walz “has a record of winning over rural conservative voters,” he brings a folksy, Midwestern appeal to the ticket, and his choice makes strategic sense given the importance of battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan. He also vocally supported Biden despite the many bumps during his 2024 campaign.
Beyond the potential upsides among voters, Walz has an established reputation among his former colleagues on Capitol Hill. He has a strong base of support among lawmakers from the Midwest and progressives, according to Axios. That support could help a Harris administration usher legislation through Congress.
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