What Wisconsin needs to know about Tim Walz, our next-door neighbor and Kamala Harris’ running mate

As governor of Minnesota, Walz has made school lunches free for all students, created a paid family and medical leave program, increased public school funding, legalized recreational marijuana, made abortion a fundamental right under state law, and protected fans buying tickets online to see Taylor Swift.

A former football coach, high school teacher, and veteran with rural roots could be the next vice president of the United States.

Kamala Harris on Tuesday picked Tim Walz to be her running mate, capping off weeks of speculation over who she’d choose. 

Harris became the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month and endorsed her.

Walz, who has spent much of the past two weeks campaigning for Harris, eagerly accepted the opportunity.

As governor of Minnesota, the only significant flaw for Tim Walz might be him being a Minnesota Vikings fan. 

Wisconsin progressives know Walz’s record (and that of his predecessor, Mark Dayton) because it reflects advances that Wisconsin has been missing out on due to a gerrymandered Republican majority in the Legislature since 2011.

So who is Tim Walz? Let’s take a look. 

Walz’s life and career before politics

Walz was born and raised in a tiny farming town in Nebraska. In the summers, he worked on a cattle ranch.

When he turned 17, he joined the Army National Guard. During the 24 years he served in the military, Walz went from artillery specialist to command sergeant major. His tenure included postings around the US and in Europe and a deployment overseas after the 9/11 attacks.

Walz then went on to pursue a career in education after using his GI benefits to earn a bachelor’s degree from Chadron State College and a master’s degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

His first teaching job was on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the poorest areas in the country. He then became one of the first American teachers authorized to teach high school in China. After returning from China, Walz taught high school geography and coached football for over 20 years in Minnesota. 

Entering politics

Walz first got involved in politics in 2004, when he volunteered for John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

From there, he decided to run against incumbent Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota’s 1st district two years later. Walz beat Gutknecht, and served as one of the few Democrats in Congress from a rural district for 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018.

Walz was also the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to serve in Congress at the time of his election. 

Walz’s record as governor

During Walz’s first term as governor, he was limited by a divided legislature, as Republicans controlled the state Senate. But after Walz won reelection and Democrats won full control of the Minnesota legislature in the 2022 elections, they successfully passed one of the most ambitious policy agendas of the past 60 years.

Using a nearly $4 billion dollar budget surplus last year, Walz and the legislature gave working- and middle-class Minnesotans tax rebates of $1,000 per individual or $2,000 per couple, approved 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for workers, and established a child tax credit to help working families. In Wisconsin, by comparison, Republicans repeatedly rejected family leave and middle class tax cut proposals from Gov. Tony Evers and pushed for lower taxes primarily for the wealthiest filers. 

Under Walz’s leadership, Minnesota also dramatically increased funding for public schools, invested over $1 billion in child care and early learning opportunities, made public college free for students with a family income under $80,000, invested $1 billion to expand access to affordable housing, banned medical debt from impacting credit scores, banned hidden scam fees, and lowered the cost of prescription drugs.

Walz also signed into law bills that legalized recreational marijuana, made abortion a fundamental right under state law, implemented universal background checks for gun sales, and increased protections for workers in Amazon warehouses, construction sites, hospitals, nursing homes, and public schools. 

Wisconsin Republicans, on the other hand, refused once again to consider marijuana legalization, significantly increased taxpayer funding for private school vouchers, and ensured Wisconsin is one of only two states that refuses to provide 12 months of coverage to new moms whose healthcare comes via Medicaid.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a Wisconsin-based obstetrician-gynecologist now running for Congress in the 8th District, was invited by Walz to attend the signing of a bill shielding abortion care patients and providers.

“I got to speak and we’ve met a few times,” Lyerly told UpNorthNews Radio last week. “He’s a good human being and a really, really strong public servant. After the Dobbs decision (repealing a federal right to abortion care), every single state got a little bit worse. Minnesota got better and a lot of it was because of Tim Walz” 

What might be more impressive to some younger voters: Under Walz, Minnesota became one of the few states to protect fans buying tickets online for Taylor Swift concerts and other live events. The law requires ticket sellers for Minnesota events to disclose all fees up front and prohibits resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures. Walz signed the law at his state’s quintessential concert venue, First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis nightclub made famous by Prince.

Looking ahead to November

While Walz had received praise for his role in passing the barrage of legislation in Minnesota, he had not become a national figure until after Biden dropped out of the race. But over the past two weeks, Walz’s profile skyrocketed nationwide as he emerged as one of the most effective critics of the Republican party.

Walz was the first high-level elected official to call the Trump-Vance ticket as “weird” and “strange” — a message since adopted by wide swaths of the Democratic Party. 

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Walz was also able to paint a stark contrast between the Republican agenda and what Democrats like he and Harris want to achieve, ultimately persuading Harris that he was the right person to stand by her side heading into November based on his record.

“With the trifecta of a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, and his leadership,” Lyerly said, “they were able to spend their budget surplus to help families, to help children, to ensure that kids got lunch at school. The work that he’s done has been absolutely brilliant.” 

It will be a short drive for Walz to make his case to Wisconsin voters, only 90 miles from his state Capitol office in St. Paul to Eau Claire, the site of Wednesday’s Harris-Walz rally.

There is already historical significance in Harris’ candidacy, but a Harris-Walz ticket would bring a milestone of its own to Minnesota. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become the first Indigenous woman to serve as governor in the United States. (Two men with Native American ancestry have also been elected governor.)