Who is Tim Walz? What you need to know about Kamala Harris’ running mate – National
American voters and the rest of the world are about to get to know the governor of Minnesota. Tim Walz much better.
The two-term Democratic governor was appointed by the U.S. vice president Kamala Harris be his presidential campaign running mate on Tuesdayending a fast-track search for a vice presidential candidate as the race for the White House intensifies.
The choice of Walz, 60, came after he quickly became one of the Democrats’ top messengers, presenting liberal policy positions in a common-sense way that could appeal to Midwestern voters whose support Harris needs to win the presidency.
He is also credited with being the first to call Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance “weirdos,” which took Harris’ campaign and Democrats in general by storm.
“It’s a pretty safe choice,” said Matthew Lebo, a political science professor at Western University who studies American politics.
“He’s very down to earth and can explain liberal values and what the priorities of government should be in a way that talks about the social safety net and helping people build their lives, rather than saying ‘we’re taxing you more.'”
Walz state also shares an 885-kilometer border with Canada, as well as a trade economy worth billions of dollars each year.
Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, a community of about 3,500 northwest of Omaha. Walz joined the National Guard and became a teacher in Nebraska.
He and his wife Gwen moved to Mankato in southern Minnesota in the 1990s, where he continued his teaching career and coached the high school football team.
Walz served 24 years in the National Guard before retiring from a field artillery battalion in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the Army’s highest ranks.
He entered politics in 2006 by defeating six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht for a U.S. congressional seat, demonstrating his ability to connect with conservative voters. He also capitalized on anger toward then-President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
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During his six terms in the House of Representatives, Walz became known as an advocate for veterans’ issues. He was praised for helping to achieve bipartisan consensus. for veterans’ health and education benefits during Trump’s divided term.
FILE – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz listens as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Planned Parenthood, March 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher, File).
When he successfully ran for governor of Minnesota in 2018, he presented Democratic ideals such as union organizing, workers’ rights and a higher minimum wage in a way that appealed to rural middle-class voters who otherwise vote Republican.
“He expresses liberalism in a very Canadian way,” Lebo said.
“He’s a hunter, but he understands the meaning of gun laws. He’s liberal when it comes to expanding the social safety net.”
What could Walz mean for Canada?
As governor, Walz sought to further deepen economic ties with Canada, which is by far the state’s largest trading partner.
The Minnesota government says total two-way trade was valued at US$21 billion last year, while exports to Canada were worth US$7 billion, “making Canada the largest single buyer in Minnesota’s $25 billion export portfolio.”
These exports include energy and agricultural products, including ethanol, corn and iron ore. According to the Business Council of Canada, 70% of snowmobiles built in Minnesota are exported to Canada, while Minnesota sources only its natural gas, crude oil and electricity from Canada.
The Canadian Consulate General in Minneapolis said in March that “Canada buys more from Minnesota than the next six countries combined.”
In June, Walz traveled to Canada with an economic and agricultural delegation seeking to promote their states as a business and investment destination. Canada and Minnesota each have more than 60 companies operating in their respective states, employing thousands of local workers.
Walz met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park during his trip, and Ford highlighted the “billions of dollars of two-way trade” between their economies and the need to “protect and grow” those ties.
Lebo said Walz’s understanding of Canada-U.S. trade relations, along with Harris’ experience growing up in Montreal, could ensure Canada remains a top priority if they win in November.
The Canadian government is trying to be ready to face whichever party takes the White House. Special attention was paid to Trump’s possible returnwho has He has promised to impose drastic tariffs on international imports.
Walz has promoted “middle-of-the-road” policies that allow businesses to remain competitive and pursue free trade while protecting jobs and wages. Harris, meanwhile, could maintain the “Buy American” policy that began under Trump but has continued under President Joe Biden.
The next U.S. administration will also oversee the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (CUSMA), which was negotiated under the Trump administration to replace NAFTA.
During his first term, Walz managed to strike a compromise with Republicans in a divided legislature to maintain funding and accessibility for social services.
But his second term, with a full Democratic majority and a huge budget surplus, saw more sweeping changes. Walz and lawmakers enacted abortion protections and gender-affirming care for transgender youth, legalized recreational marijuana, funded free school lunches for children and free tuition at public universities for students from low-income families, paid family and medical leave, and health insurance coverage regardless of a person’s immigration status.
As always, Walz succeeded in presenting these liberal causes as common-sense solutions to the problems facing average Americans – and contrasted them with Republican policies.
He called conservative resistance to medical and reproductive freedom and efforts to ban certain books from school libraries “bizarre” — a word that has since appealed to Democrats, who have backed away from existential warnings about the threat Trump poses to democracy.
“Who is asking for these crazy things that Republicans are doing?” Walz asked on MSNBC last week.
Lebo said the choice of Walz fits into Harris’ campaign strategy of “appearing calm and normal” in the face of Trump’s attacks on Harris’ racial identity and accusations that she and Walz will unleash “hell on earth.”
“Vance and Trump are not part of the mainstream,” Lebo said.
“(Harris and Walz) talk about reproductive rights in a way that convinces most Americans. They talk about tax levels in a way that convinces most Americans… And Walz could attract white, rural voters who voted for Trump before but are now fed up with him.”
