ROMULUS, MI — Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz, 60, joins a list of Minnesotans picked to run for Vice President including former Vice President Hubert Humphrey and former Vice President Walter Mondale. While Walz has been a member of Congress and is in his second term as Governor, many Americans are just getting to know him.
While many are gushing at his love for his family, his folksy vibes and dad jokes, others are searching for clues of how he’d help Vice President Kamala Harris govern.
Get to Know Tim Walz
The following are accomplishments of the Walz administration in Minnesota:
Education Investments: Governor Walz signed a $2.3 billion education budget into law – the single-largest investment in public education in state history. Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan also provided Minnesota students free breakfast and lunch at school, created thousands of new pre-k seats, expanded access to mental health resources for students, and made significant investments to improve child literacy.
Protecting Personal Freedoms: Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan established ironclad reproductive freedom, protections for Trans individuals, and gender-affirming care as fundamental rights in Minnesota. Governor Walz also banned the cruel, outdated practice of “conversion therapy” and ended book bans based on ideology.
Improving Public Health and Safety: Governor Walz banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving and raised the age to purchase tobacco to 21. The Governor provided $300 million for public safety needs across the state to combat crime and broke ground on a new, centralized Minnesota State Patrol headquarters. Governor Walz took meaningful action to protect communities from gun violence, signing bills establishing a red flag law, expanding background checks, increasing criminal penalties for straw purchasing guns, and banning deadly binary trigger guns.
Expanding Workers’ Rights: To make Minnesota the best state for workers, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan established paid leave, ensured paid sick days, banned non-compete agreements, and increased protections for workers in Amazon warehouses, construction sites, hospitals, nursing homes, and public schools.
Strong Communities and Infrastructure: Governor Walz signed the largest infrastructure bill in Minnesota’s history into law to rebuild roads and bridges, repair fire stations and water treatment plants, and upgrade veterans’ homes, fish hatcheries, and flood mitigation systems – all while creating good-paying union jobs for Minnesotans. Governor Walz also provided funding to remove and replace lead pipes across the state.
Tax Cuts for Working Families and the Middle Class: Governor Walz signed the largest infrastructure bill in Minnesota’s history into law to rebuild roads and bridges, repair fire stations and water treatment plants, and upgrade veterans’ homes, fish hatcheries, and flood mitigation systems – all while creating good-paying union jobs for Minnesotans. Governor Walz also provided funding to remove and replace lead pipes across the state.
Workforce Development: Governor Walz has invested millions in workforce development to connect Minnesotans to high-growth, high-demand career fields like manufacturing, education, and public safety. To lower costs and grow Minnesota’s workforce, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan provided free college for students with a family income under $80,000. They also invested over $1 billion in child care and early learning opportunities.
Expanding Voting Rights: Governor Walz signed into law the largest expansion of voting rights in Minnesota in the last half century, restoring voting rights for over 55,000 formerly incarcerated people in Minnesota, establishing automatic voter registration, creating a permanent absentee voting status, and pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. Governor Walz also signed the Minnesota Voting Rights Act into law – prohibiting standards that would deny or limit any citizen’s right to vote based on their race, color, or language.
Lowering Prescription Drug Costs: In 2023, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan took new action to significantly lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and middle-class families. They also enacted the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act to provide Minnesotans with emergency assistance and hold insulin manufacturers accountable.
Protecting Our Environment: Governor Walz signed a bipartisan bill to lead Minnesota to 100% clean electricity by 2040 all while creating good-paying jobs for Minnesotans. In 2023 alone, he signed over 40 climate initiatives into law – including provisions banning PFAS “forever chemicals,” expanding Minnesota’s electric vehicle infrastructure, and providing a tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. And in 2024, he cut red tape for clean energy projects to put a downpayment on rapid clean energy job growth.
Cutting Child Poverty: Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan established a nation-leading child tax credit to cut child poverty in Minnesota by up to one-third.
Increasing Access to Affordable Housing: Governor Walz signed a historic $1 billion investment in housing into law – building a foundation for safety, stability, and economic growth across the state. Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan also took new action to protect tenants’ rights.
Legalizing Adult-Use Cannabis: Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan legalized adult-use cannabis and expunged nonviolent cannabis convictions in Minnesota.
Protecting Minnesota Consumers: Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan helped more Minnesotans recover from medical debt – banning medical debt from impacting credit scores, preventing medical providers from withholding medically necessary care due to unpaid debt, and eliminating automatic transfers of medical debt to a patient’s spouse. Governor Walz also signed a bill into law banning hidden junk fees and cracking down on fraudulent ticket sales.
Protecting Seniors: To protect Minnesota seniors, Governor Walz signed historic, bipartisan elder abuse legislation to regulate assisted-living centers for the first time. He also allocated $173 million in direct funding for 340 nursing homes across the state.
Tim Walz Biography
The following is the biography from Governor Walz’s official page on the State of Minnesota website:
Tim Walz is Minnesota’s 41st Governor. He was first elected Governor in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. Accomplishments from his time as Governor include providing universal free school meals for students, protecting reproductive freedom, strengthening voting rights, laying the groundwork to get Minnesota to 100% clean electricity by 2040, cutting taxes for the middle class, and expanding paid leave for Minnesota workers. Throughout his time as Governor, Tim has prioritized making Minnesota the best state in the country to raise a family.
Born in a small town in rural Nebraska, Tim’s parents instilled in him the values of public service, generosity toward your neighbors, and working for the common good that guide his commitment to Minnesota today. After high school graduation, Tim enlisted in the Army National Guard. He attended Chadron State College and graduated with a social science degree in 1989. Tim spent a year teaching abroad before returning home to serve full time in the Army National Guard and eventually accepting a high school teaching and coaching position.
While teaching, Tim met his future wife, Gwen Whipple, who taught at the same school. They moved to Mankato in 1996, where they worked at Mankato West High School. In addition to teaching social studies, Tim helped coach the Mankato West football team that won the school’s first state championship. After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005. Tim won his first election to the United States House of Representatives in 2006 and was re-elected for another five terms serving Minnesota’s First Congressional District in Southern Minnesota.
