1. Tim Walz was the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 US presidential election and a member of the US House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019.
88 Facts About Tim Walz
1. 2.
Tim Walz later graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska and then moved to Minnesota in 1996.
3.
Tim Walz was elected to the US House of Representatives for in 2006, defeating six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht.
4.
Tim Walz was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and reelected in 2022, holding office during the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota.
5.
Timothy James Walz was born on April 6,1964, in West Point, Nebraska, at Memorial Hospital.
6.
Tim Walz's mother, Darlene Rose Reiman, was a homemaker and grew up on a farm.
7.
Tim Walz's father, James Frederick Walz, was a teacher and school superintendent who served in the US Army during the Korean War, and had worked in the family's butcher shop as a child.
8.
Tim Walz is of German, Swedish, Luxembourgish, and Irish descent; in 1867 his great-great-grandfather Sebastian Tim Walz emigrated to the United States from Kuppenheim, Germany.
9.
Tim Walz graduated from Butte High School in 1982 in a class of 25 students and then went to Chadron, Nebraska for college.
10.
Tim Walz's father died in January 1984, leaving his mother and younger brother dependent on Social Security survivor benefits for support.
11.
Tim Walz was devastated and drifted from Nebraska to Texas, where he took courses at the University of Houston in East Asian studies and served in the Texas Army National Guard.
12.
Tim Walz returned to Nebraska in 1987 to continue his education at Chadron State College; he participated in student government there and was an honor student.
13.
Tim Walz graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in social science education.
14.
Tim Walz went to teach in August 1989, following the Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent government crackdown in June of that year.
15.
Tim Walz worked as a geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School.
16.
Tim Walz felt it was important that as a married, heterosexual football coach and soldier, he could show how different worlds can coexist.
17.
Tim Walz earned a master of science in experiential education from Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 2002, writing his master's thesis on Holocaust education.
18.
Tim Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years after enlisting in 1981.
19.
Tim Walz was able to retire as of August 2002, according to the National Guard.
20.
Tim Walz attained the rank of command sergeant major near the end of his service and briefly was the senior enlisted soldier of 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment.
21.
Tim Walz's decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, two Army Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and an Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with five oak leaf clusters.
22.
On February 10,2005, Tim Walz filed official documents to run for the US House of Representatives.
23.
Tim Walz later explained that he retired in order to focus on his campaign for Congress and did not want to violate the Hatch Act, which forbids some political activities by federal government employees.
24.
Tim Walz did not deploy to an active combat zone during his service.
25.
Tim Walz became first active in politics in August 2004, when he volunteered for John Kerry's presidential campaign.
26.
Tim Walz was inspired to volunteer in the presidential election after he took a group of students to a George W Bush rally in Mankato, and was angered by the security team's questioning of his students' politics after they saw a Kerry sticker on a student's wallet.
27.
Tim Walz was appointed the Kerry campaign's coordinator for his county as well as a district coordinator of Vets for Kerry.
28.
In January 2005, Tim Walz completed the three-day campaigns and elections crash course at Camp Wellstone, a program run by Wellstone Action, the nonprofit organization Mark and David Wellstone created to carry on the work of their parents, Paul Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone.
29.
On February 10,2005, Tim Walz filed to run for the US House of Representatives from Minnesota's 1st congressional district.
30.
Tim Walz packaged himself as a moderate from Day One, built an office centered on constituent service and carved out a niche as a tireless advocate for veterans.
31.
Tim Walz was reelected by comfortable margins in 2012 and 2014.
32.
An opponent of the Iraq war, Tim Walz opposed the Bush administration's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq in 2007.
33.
Tim Walz explained that his vote was to ensure the safety of American troops while saying he would continue to negotiate a process to pull troops from Iraq.
34.
Tim Walz voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
35.
Tim Walz urged assistance for hog and dairy farmers who struggled with lower prices for their commodities in 2008 and 2009.
36.
Voting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tim Walz pointed to its strong provisions in support of public school buildings.
37.
Tim Walz is on record supporting legislation to lower tuition costs.
38.
In February 2008, Tim Walz endorsed the candidacy of Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
39.
Tim Walz was a significant supporter of the STOCK Act, which bans congressional insider trading.
40.
Tim Walz met with the Dalai Lama and served on a commission monitoring human-rights in China.
41.
Tim Walz accused the political Tea Party movement of contributing to the shutdown, calling it "reckless" and "completely avoidable".
42.
Tim Walz was ranked the 7th-most bipartisan House member during the 114th Congress in the Bipartisan Index created by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of Congress by measuring how often their bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and how often they co-sponsor bills by members of the opposite party.
43.
In 2017, Tim Walz was floated as a possible candidate for the 2018 special election for the US Senate seat held by Al Franken, even though Tim Walz had already announced his campaign for governor.
44.
Tim Walz declined to run and endorsed Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith after she launched her campaign for the seat.
45.
In March 2017, after Mark Dayton, the incumbent governor, chose not to seek another term, Tim Walz announced he would run for governor.
46.
Tim Walz was sworn in as governor of Minnesota on January 7,2019, at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul.
47.
Tim Walz took the oath of office alongside the incoming lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan; Minnesota secretary of state Steve Simon; Minnesota state auditor Julie Blaha; and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, all Democrats.
48.
Tim Walz spoke about education and healthcare reform in his inauguration speech.
49.
In 2023, Tim Walz was named chair of the Democratic Governors Association, a high-profile position that involves supporting other governors in tight races.
50.
Tim Walz stepped down after being selected as Kamala Harris's running mate.
51.
Trump publicly claimed credit for deploying the Minnesota National Guard; Tim Walz's office said Trump had no impact on Tim Walz's deployments of the Guard.
52.
Tim Walz later responded to the murder by ordering the Minnesota legislature to reconvene for special sessions on legislation for police reform and accountability.
53.
Tim Walz signed the legislation into law on July 23,2020.
54.
In January 2023, Tim Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act, which protects access to reproductive health care including abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments in Minnesota.
55.
In May 2024, Tim Walz signed and implemented a bipartisan energy permitting reform bill.
56.
Tim Walz signed a bill that gave all students free school meals regardless of income.
57.
Tim Walz advocated for the legalization of recreational cannabis as governor of Minnesota.
58.
In June 2024, Tim Walz signed the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act.
59.
In 2022, Tim Walz appointed attorney Tadd Johnson to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, the first Native American appointed to the board since it was established.
60.
The Star Tribune called the session "one of the most consequential" ever in Minnesota; Tim Walz called it the "most productive session in Minnesota history".
61.
In February 2019, Tim Walz endorsed the candidacy of Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota's senior US senator, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
62.
Tim Walz said the debate was a "bad hit" for Biden's campaign.
63.
On July 22,2024, Tim Walz endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after incumbent president Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race.
64.
Tim Walz's selection was praised by an ideologically diverse group of politicians, including progressive Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, centrist independent senator Joe Manchin, and moderate Republican former governor of Maryland Larry Hogan.
65.
Tim Walz is credited with first publicly describing Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as "weird".
66.
Tim Walz likened their strategy to a prevent defense, saying they were too focused on not losing their lead, whereas he never thought they were ahead.
67.
Tim Walz has been described as holding both moderate and progressive policy stances.
68.
Tim Walz signed into law the Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act.
69.
Politico wrote, "Tim Walz set out a 'care economy'-driven agenda that prioritized everyday education concerns".
70.
Tim Walz signed legislation requiring public schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all students, giving financial aid to public schools for households earning less than $80,000 a year, and increasing K-12 education spending by $2.2 billion.
71.
Tim Walz is a gun owner and supports increased regulations on firearms.
72.
Tim Walz ordered flags to be lowered to half staff in the following days.
73.
In 2023, Tim Walz signed a law banning captive audience meetings and non-compete clauses.
74.
In October 2023, Tim Walz joined the striking United Auto Workers' picket line.
75.
Tim Walz is a former member of two teachers' unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.
76.
Tim Walz voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.
77.
In 2011, Tim Walz announced his support for the Respect for Marriage Act.
78.
Tim Walz was the lead House sponsor of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which directs the Veterans Administration to report on veteran mental health care and suicide prevention programs.
79.
Tim Walz, who was raised Catholic, became a Lutheran after marrying Gwen.
80.
Tim Walz has called himself a "Minnesota Lutheran" and identified Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St Paul, Minnesota, a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as his family's parish.
81.
Tim Walz's younger brother, Craig, was a high school science teacher in St Charles, Minnesota.
82.
Tim Walz's older brother, Jeff, was a former assistant principal at a middle school in Citrus County, Florida.
83.
Tim Walz's older sister, Sandy Dietrich, is a former teacher from Alliance.
84.
Tim Walz was arrested in 1995 on a driving under the influence charge in Dawes County, Nebraska.
85.
Tim Walz pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving, and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days.
86.
Tim Walz owns no businesses and lists no income besides his salary as governor and his wife's teaching salary.
87.
Tim Walz is a distant cousin of Nebraska state senator Lynne Walz.
88.
In 2017, Tim Walz was one of 33 US senators and representatives to receive the Golden Triangle Award from the National Farmers Union for "demonstrated leadership and support at the federal policymaking level for family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities".