Kamala Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, August 6th.
Timothy James Walz has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019.
Tim Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska. After high school, he joined the Army National Guard and worked in a manufacturing job. He earned a teaching degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska before relocating to Minnesota in 1996. Prior to his congressional run, he was a social studies teacher and football coach in the Mankato school district. In 2006, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st congressional district, defeating six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht. He was reelected five times and resigned in 2019 after being elected governor.
Tim Walz declared his candidacy for governor following the decision of incumbent Democratic Governor Mark Dayton not to pursue a third term. On November 6, 2018, Walz won the gubernatorial election, defeating the Republican candidate, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson.
During his time as Governor, Minnesota has seen a lot of…… “change”.
On May 26, 2020, the day after George Floyd’s murder, Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan called for justice, describing the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as “disturbing.” Walz further stated, “The lack of humanity in this disturbing video is sickening. We will get answers and seek justice.” Leading to what is known as the “Summer of Love”.
Last year, Walz also signed an education finance bill that featured language stipulating that all public and charter schools in the state “must provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge” for grades 4 to 12 and that they “must be available to all menstruating students.”
Those products included “pads, tampons, or other similar products used in connection with the menstrual cycle,” the bill stated.
Just 3 months ago, Minnesota Gov Tim Walz replaced their state flag with a new flag resembling a Somali regional flag.
On July 22, 2024, Tim Walz endorsed Vice President Harris after incumbent President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race. Walz quickly made it onto Harris’s reported shortlist for vice president, and on August 6, 2024, Harris officially chose Walz as her running mate. This decision came after a selection process that also considered Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
