The pick is Tim Walz! Kamala Harris’ search for her Vice President has ended today after a profess severely hampered by time as ballot deadlines quickly crept upon the Democrats. This process caps off some of the most shocking chain of events to ever rock American politics: the cascade, started by a disastrous debate performance, aggravated by the assassination attempt on former President Trump, erupted by President Biden’s dramatic exit from the race on July 21st at 1:46 pm ET, crescendoed by Kamala Harris’ dramatic momentum towards the Democratic nomination and capped off today with the selection of Tim Walz. Walz, on his part, was not the favorite coming into the process; in fact, Tim Walz was an absolute unknown on the national stage compared to the likes of other candidates like Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (who was viewed as the heavy favorite coming into the process by the virtue that he resides in arguably the most critical battleground state). Now that Walz has emerged victorious, this begs the question, who is this unknown Tim Walz?
Tim Walz: Rural Beginning
Timothy James Walz was born on April 6th, 1964, in West Point, Nebraska, and was raised in Valentine, Nebraska, an impoverished rural community in the northwestern part of the state. Walz wasn’t of a rich upbringing nor even a middle-class upbringing; raised on social security, Walz seemed set to lead an uneventful life. Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17, serving 24 years and rising to the ranks to become Command Sergeant Major. This direction, influenced by the path his father took as a veteran himself, wouldn’t be the last of his father’s influence on the course of Walz’s life, even when his father’s life was cut short. James Walz, his father, died of lung cancer when Tim Walz was just 19 years old. This tragedy would heavily weigh upon Walz and his political positioning in the future.
Walz attended an unextraordinary high school in Butte, Nebraska, and then Walz enrolled in Chadron State College in Nebraska through the GI Bill, where he graduated with a teaching degree. Following college, Walz taught high school in China through a program affiliated with Harvard University, joining one of the first government-sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in Chinese high schools. Coming back home from China, Walz met his future wife Gwen in 1996 and moved to her home state of Minnesota to teach at Mankato West High School as a teacher and football coach.
Teaching and Congressional Career
Tim Walz taught social studies at Mankato West High School and also coached the football team: this is particularly noteworthy, however, because he was the first coach in the school’s history to take his team to the state championship. Nothing in his background would indicate any sort of political aspirations for any public office, but a provocative incident would inspire Walz to take a crack at running for Congress. This provocative incident would light the fuse to create the perfect storm to launch Walz into the White House. In 2004, Walz and some students were denied entry to President George W Bush’s rally in his hometown of Mankato because organizers discovered that the students had previously volunteered with the Democratic Party. Walz was infuriated, per his recollection of a Twitter thread, that the country was so divided that they would refuse a veteran and students at the door. This incident would be the fuse that would spark Walz’s run in 2006.
The 2006 midterm elections weren’t particularly kind to Republicans; Democrats romped in the Senate and House and whopped Republicans in the raw vote count. In the House, Democrats snatched back control of the House by gaining 31 seats after a long 12-year period of being out of power after the 1994 Republican Revolution. Walz was one of those 31 flipping Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, then heavily rural and Republican. Walz wasn’t just facing partisanship head-on; he was fighting a powerful six-term incumbent in Congressman Gil Gutknecht. Walz, the unknown underdog, campaigned like hell and managed to win by a solid 5%, becoming the only 4th Democrat ever to represent this district. He attributes his unique campaigning style to Teaching, saying in a 2007 interview shortly before entering Congress, “The biggest thing is communicating an idea,” Walz said. “It’s trying to get people to be involved and to look at the facts. … Teaching is the same way. You’re trying to present a system of facts; you’re trying to teach students the best way to think about problems and solve them in a rational way.”
In Congress, Walz criticized Bush’s No Child Left Behind as a bureaucratic nightmare and pushed for healthcare reform through a series of legislation. Walz did not support George Bush’s troop surge in Iraq and was a staunch supporter of Democratic legislation even in a heavily red district. Walz supported causes like the minimum wage by cosponsoring a bill, stem cell research, abortion, and the Affordable Care Act. He didn’t lose elections in his heavy R district for supporting these positions; in fact, he was re-elected overwhelmingly during his tenure of six terms in Congress.
Governorship
Walz’s congressional tenure wouldn’t mark the end of his political career; it would mark arguably the beginning. In 2018, Walz launched himself into the Democratic primary, prevailing against his opponents and riding the wave of anti-Trump sentiment straight into the Governor’s office. There, his record would be on progressives, who have been touted as incredibly “forward thinking.”
As Governor, even facing harsh Republican opposition, pushed goals like committing to Minnesota being “100% clean energy by 2040.” His legislative agenda in Minnesota is unmatched in terms of its progressiveness, protection of abortion rights, and being the only state in the region bordering North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa. Walz extended voting rights to incarcerated people, thus giving the right to vote to almost 60,000 people. Walz also passed legislation that used Minnesota’s monetary surplus to extend free college to Minnesota families making less than 80,000 dollars a year, legalizing Marijuana, and advancing legislation for paid family and sick leave for 12 weeks. Walz’s record is a progressive dream list and is sure to earn Harris points with the base.
In 2022, Walz won re-election by 8% in what was supposed to be a Republican wave election against candidate and doctor Scott Jensen.
Vice Presidential Pick
Walz’s story comes full circle to now, where, after a short and stressful process, he prevailed and became the Vice Presidential nominee for the Democratic party. Walz, on his part, was absolutely stunned at the national attention he’s been receiving over the last three weeks for the Vice Presidential search team. Today, August 6th, capped off an extraordinary rise of an outsider to the inside, and Walz is sure to prove an invaluable pick for Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House.
Ratings
Given the newness and obscurity of Walz, the ratings from last week Tuesday remain the same. Harris has 270 electoral votes, and Trump has 268, but Minnesota moves into the Likely Democratic column, and Michigan moves into Lean Democratic on the non probability no tossup ratings.
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