A quick guide to Tim Walz

Tim Walz

Two months ago, few outside Minnesota knew Tim Walz. But now the state’s governor is six weeks away from possibly becoming vice-president. What do we know about him?

He’s a former high school teacher and football coach

Walz, 60, taught geography at Mankato West High School in Minnesota and led the school to its first American football state championship.

Some of his former players lined up on stage at the Democratic National Convention in August to sing the praises of their former coach. “He believed in us,” said one.

He came out of nowhere to be picked as running mate for Harris

Few people were talking about the governor of Minnesota as the possible vice-president pick for Kamala Harris in her run for the White House.

But some impressive TV performances - including one where he described some Republican policies as “weird” - catapulted him into contention.

With a love of hunting and ice fishing, he was seen as representing rural America in a way that Harris, the prosecutor from San Francisco, never could.

He once taught in China

After obtaining his teaching degree, he started a one-year post in China two months after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when the authorities crushed a mass protest.

In the vice-presidential debate, he said he had “misspoken” in the past by saying he was in Hong Kong at the time of the protest. “I’m a knucklehead,” he told the TV audience.

Walz has a long military record

He enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 at the urging of his father who died of lung cancer two years later. He served in the volunteer force for 24 years.

As governor he became known for free school lunches

During the Covid pandemic, access to free school meals was expanded nationwide.

After that elapsed, Walz signed a Minnesota state law in 2023 that gave all children access to breakfast and lunch. It became one of his signature, most talked-about achievements.

He has had to clarify other misleading statements

Walz was never deployed to a combat zone and had to correct a speech which resurfaced in recent weeks in which he implied he had. He was also criticised for misstating his rank at retirement.

Then he had to clarify what kind of assistance he and his wife Gwen received to help them conceive, to dispel the impression they received IVF.

His interactions with his daughter are big on TikTok

The happy outcome of that difficult fertility journey was their eldest child Hope, now 23.

She and her father appear in several widely shared, light-hearted videos that make fun of the generation gap.

His speech at the Democratic convention was folksy

He introduced himself to a national audience in Chicago with Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder in the audience.

Teed up by John Mellencamp’s Small Town, he began by emphasising his community values and went on to champion reproductive rights and praise Harris as a tough and experienced leader.

Leaning heavily on football metaphors, he finished with: “We’re gonna leave it all on the field.”

His son Gus also made headlines that day

His children, Hope and Gus, were in tears as he addressed them by name, saying: “You are my entire world.”

Walz’s 17-year-old son could be seen saying “that’s my dad”, a moment that went viral.

He faced Republican JD Vance in the VP debate

The televised showdown between two Midwesterners was a mostly polite affair in contrast to the presidential candidates a month ago.

After a faltering start, Walz had some good moments, notably on teenagers and guns, abortion and the uprising by Trump supporters on 6 January.

Who else is in the running?

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