Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was largely unknown nationally a couple weeks ago. But in this wild summer of presidential politics, things change fast.
Walz has delighted Democrats and charmed the media with his quick wit, folksy, Midwestern dad style, and his ability to get deep under the skin of former President Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
He labeled them “weird,” and that pointed term stuck. It also helped persuade Vice President Kamala Harris to select Walz as her running mate.
I wish I could say I saw all this coming two decades ago, but . . .
I met Walz in 2004 when I was an editor at The Mankato Free Press in Minnesota. He was a social studies teacher at Mankato West High School who also coached football. Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard and was a well-known local figure.
Our paths first crossed at the newspaper office when Walz came to see us to express his outrage over how one of his students had been treated at a rally held for President George W. Bush.
Bush was in a tight race with U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic candidate. Winning traditionally liberal Minnesota was a major goal for Bush, so he spoke at a stone quarry on the edge of Mankato, drawing a huge crowd on Aug. 4, 2004.
Walz was with a pair of students, and they were thoroughly searched. One kid had a liberal sticker or something deemed objectionable in his wallet and was told he would not be allowed to enter. Both students left.
Walz stayed to listen, and he grew madder by the minute thinking about what had happened. A plan formed in his mind, one that led to his sudden rise to national prominence.
I spent time with him at a LGBQT event in Mankato I was covering in the summer of 2004. In addition to being an assistant football coach for the Mankato West High School team — which won a state title during his time there — he was an advocate for gay kids.
“When my LGBT students approached me in the mid-1990s asking me to help them start the first gay-straight alliance at Mankato West High School, my answer was, ‘ABSOLUTELY,’” Walz said in a 2018 tweet.
He said those kids needed support, and having a white, middle-aged, straight football coach on their side sent a clear message. That’s why he was in a Mankato park that day.
I ran into him as he was strolling around, and we walked and talked for a half hour or so.
Walz came across in person as smart, ambitious and aware of the challenges he faced. He is chunky, balding and not a charismatic figure, but he is also honest, funny and open. I walked away thinking he had a future in politics.
But vice president? I could not have imagined that.
Walz challenged Minnesota 1st District Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht in 2006 and knocked off the six-term incumbent, who had vowed to retire after 12 years in Congress. Gutknecht changed his mind — what a shock! — but voters remembered and sent him into retirement.
On Election Night, Walz vowed to work for all people in his district, the state and nation.
“We have an opportunity now to lead this country in the direction it needs to go, leaving behind the divisive partisan politics,” he said. “We need to start seeing our neighbors not as Democratic neighbors, Republican neighbors. They’re our neighbors, they’re Americans. This country can do better. We start tomorrow.”
Walz serving six terms in Congress, being in the House with Republican Kristi Noem of South Dakota for her entire eight years there. Both were elected governor in 2018 and won second terms in 2022.
Minnesota has leaned Democratic for most of the last half century, led by the success and influence of South Dakota native Hubert Horatio Humphrey, who moved to Minnesota as a young man. HHH became mayor of Minneapolis, served five terms as a U.S. senator in two stretches, was vice president f1965-68 and ran for president in 1960, 1968 and 1972.
Walz was known as a congressman who worked well with Republicans. As governor, he has leaned a bit more to the left while also retaining his populist nature and displaying an ability to work with Republicans in St. Paul on issues like providing enough nursing homes for Minnesotans.
At the same time, however, he has stood by his basic beliefs, including supporting a woman’s right to choose for herself as he posted on X on Dec. 14.
“Minnesota will continue to be a beacon of reproductive freedom,” Walz wrote. “I stand ready to ensure Minnesotans can get the care they need, and I will continue to deliver on my promise to protect your rights — not take them away.”
Walz also has been willing to take a few shots at his conservative neighbors — Noem and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
In a Dec. 7 interview on CNN, he contrasted how Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa operate.
“I’m surrounded by states who are spending their time figuring out how to ban ‘Charlotte’s Web’ in their schools while we’re banishing hunger from ours with free breakfast and lunch,” Walz said.
He amplified it on X: “We’re not banning books; we’re banishing hunger. It’s that simple.”
On Dec. 11, Walz said he also wanted to make sure people in his cold-weather state stay safe and warm in the winter.
“As we continue working to lower costs and make life easier for Minnesotans, I’m proud our Energy Assistance Program can provide families with up to $1,400 — helping renters and homeowners afford their utility bills,” he posted on X.
Contrast that with Noem turning down a chance to obtain $7.5 million to help feed hungry kids during the summer, according to a South Dakota News Watch report. The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer would have helped an estimated 63,000 South Dakota children receive healthy food during summer 2023 — at a time when estimates were 25,000 kids did not have access to healthy food.
Walz was seen as a moderate who worked well with Republicans in Congress, but critics say he moved to the left as governor. That made him popular enough to win a second term in 2022 and put him in the spotlight. But Trump and Vance will work hard to wrap the liberal label around Walz’s neck in the coming 90 days.
Noem flamed out in her campaign to become Donald Trump’s running mate. Noem set herself on fire with her bizarre admissions of killing a dog and a goat in a book she published this spring, which also included a lie about meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un. Such an incredible act of self-immolation was, well, weird.
Now, the ultimate Midwest dad, as he is being marketed, is on the national stage. It’s been an amazing rise to watch from afar.
Tom Lawrence is a former Iowa Information Media Group managing editor who still contributes to the company’s publications. He lives in Sioux Falls, SD, and may be reached at sdwriter26@gmail.com.
