Who is Tim Walz, the man Kamala Harris chose as her vice presidential running mate

Tim Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, has become the vice presidential running mate of the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, despite the fact that the majority of American citizens do not even know who he is.

The politician with a rich biography was a school teacher, football coach, and national guardsman before joining the Democratic Party.

His political experience, representing a Republican-leaning district in Congress and then adopting left-leaning policies while governor of Minnesota, could have broad appeal at a time when American politics is so polarized.

Originally from rural Nebraska, Waltz farmed and hunted, and at 17 enlisted in the National Guard. He served in the volunteer forces for 24 years.

His father, a school principal, encouraged him to join the military before dying of lung cancer when Waltz was 19 years old.

Waltz spent a year as a lecturer in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. He later honeymooned there with his wife, Gwen Whipple, and also organized educational summer trips to China for American students.

Upon returning home to Nebraska, Walz became a teacher and American football coach until his wife, also a teacher, brought him back to her native Minnesota. They now have two children.

Entering politics

He ran for office for the first time in a predominantly agricultural district stretching across southern Minnesota, which is quite rural and leans Republican.

Walz campaigned as a moderate Democrat who cares about public services and veterans, which led to his victory in the election.

During 12 years in Congress, it was difficult to pin down his ideology.

He voted for the Affordable Care Act, co-sponsored labor measures, including a bill to raise the minimum wage, and supported failed cap-and-trade attempts to reduce carbon emissions. But he also found common ground with Republicans.

He voted to continue funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, supported stricter vetting of refugees entering the US, and tried to block the Obama-era bailouts of banks and auto companies following the 2008 financial crash.

Walz won the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial race by more than 11 points, but his first term was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.

Republicans have fiercely criticized Volc for the slow deployment of the National Guard at a time when some protests had become violent.

However, he won re-election and his second term oversaw a grueling period when Democrats controlled the state legislature by a single seat.

Democrats secured abortion rights, passed paid family and sick leave, strengthened gun laws, funded universal free school meals, and invested in affordable housing.

To the position on the backs of Republicans

Mostly unknown on the national scene, Waltz has quickly generated buzz in recent weeks for his sharp criticism of Republicans, while they characterized what he did in Minnesota as too radical for everyday Americans.

Tom Emmer, the third-highest-ranking Republican in the US House of Representatives, accused Walz of trying to „turn Minnesota into Kamala Harris's home state of California.“.

Waltz faced criticism for his handling of COVID-19 and the riots that shook Minneapolis in 2020, Fox News reported. 

– He was a disaster for Minnesota and is by far the most partisan governor I can remember it having. If we go back to 2020, certainly – he did nothing to try to stop the riots in Minneapolis. I think he was afraid of alienating his „progressive“ base, which supported the riots. Kamala Harris was raising money for the rioters – said Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann.

Some critics point to Waltz's memo mandating the wearing of masks indoors during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the establishment of a hotline for reporting residents who violated pandemic rules.

But allies, including labor leaders, believe that Walz can broaden Ms. Harris's appeal to rural and working-class voters.

However, all of this might go unnoticed at the national level, because he is the least known of all those mentioned as potential vice-presidential candidates – a poll showed that as many as 71 percent of Americans are unsure who he is or have not heard of him.

SOURCE: 24SEDAM PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT