Until recently, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was a virtual unknown outside of the Midwest, even among Democrats. But his stock rose fast in the days after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, clearing a path for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him and pick Walz as her No. 2.
Here’s a closer look at the Democrats’ new choice for vice president.
1. He is a (very recent) social media darling
Walz has enjoyed a groundswell of support online from users commenting on his Midwestern “dad vibes” and appealing ordinariness.
2. He started the whole “weird” thing
It was Walz who labeled former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, “weird” on cable television just a couple of weeks ago. The description soon became a Democratic talking point.
3. He named a highway after Prince and signed the bill in purple ink
“I think we can lay to rest that this is the coolest bill signing we’ll ever do,” he said as he put his name on legislation declaring a stretch of Highway 5 the “Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway” after the musician who had lived in Minnesota.
4. He reminds you of your high school history teacher for a reason
Walz taught high school social studies and geography — first in Alliance, Nebraska, and then in Mankato, Minnesota — before entering politics.
5. He taught in China in 1989 and speaks some Mandarin
He went to China for a year after graduating from college and taught English there through a program affiliated with Harvard University.
6. He is a decorated National Guard Army veteran
Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard as a teenager and retired 24 years later in 2005, having served primarily in responses to natural disasters. He received honors including the Army Commendation Medal for heroism or meritorious service.
7. He was a rare breed in Congress: A Democrat from the rural Midwest
For more than a decade, Walz represented Minnesota’s 1st District, in the southern part of the state. He was the top Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, supported funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, voted for the Affordable Care Act and voted against restricting federal funding for abortion.
8. He is a Nebraskan by birth
He was born in West Point, Nebraska, grew up in Valentine, Nebraska, attended high school in Butte, Nebraska, and graduated from Chadron State College before moving to earn a master’s degree in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
9. He got involved in politics after being barred from a George W. Bush rally
In 2004, when he was still a teacher, he accompanied students to the rally and objected when, in his telling, they were denied entrance for having volunteered for Democrats.
10. The woman who trained him to run for office is now his lieutenant governor
Walz attended Camp Wellstone, a Democratic political training camp named after former Sen. Paul Wellstone, before ousting a Republican incumbent to win his House seat in 2006. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was a trainer there.
11. He was an early supporter of gay rights
At Mankato West High School in Minnesota in the 1990s, he sponsored a gay-straight alliance and has said it was important at that time for the sponsor to be “the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married.” When he won his House seat in 2006 in a conservative district, he ran on support for same-sex marriage.
12. He has shifted politically on other issues
He was more moderate than many Democrats during his time in the House, voting for stricter vetting of refugees and receiving endorsements from the National Rifle Association. He shifted significantly to the left on guns and on other subjects when he ran for governor in 2018, and he and Minnesota’s Democratic Legislature have enacted a sweeping progressive agenda.
13. He is a gun owner and hunts pheasants and turkeys
He introduced a “Governor’s Turkey Hunting Opener” to kick off the turkey hunting season in Minnesota and runs a similar event for the pheasant hunting season. “I guarantee you he can’t shoot pheasants like I can,” he said on CNN of Vance.
14. He would be the third vice president from Minnesota
Hubert Humphrey (who served under President Lyndon B. Johnson) and Walter Mondale (who served under President Jimmy Carter) were the first two.
15. He and his wife had their two children through in vitro fertilization
It took seven years of fertility treatments for them to have their daughter, whom they named Hope. Walz spoke about the experience publicly after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling this year upended IVF treatment there.
16. He coached the 1999 football state champions
It was the first state championship title for Mankato West High School.
17. He is a Lutheran
More specifically, he sometimes describes himself as a “Minnesota Lutheran.” “Because we’re good Minnesota Lutherans, we have a rule: if you do something good and talk about it, it no longer counts,” Walz joked during a speech last spring. “So what you have to do is to get someone else to talk about you.”
18. He doesn’t drink after a DWI in 1995
Walz has said he stopped drinking alcohol after he was pulled over for speeding in 1995 and failed a sobriety test. His wife told him at the time: “You have obligations to people. You can’t make dumb choices.”
19. He also does not drink coffee.
He prefers Diet Mountain Dew. As does his Republican counterpart.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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