MINNEAPOLIS — With just two weeks to choose her running mate after taking over the Democratic baton, Vice President Kamala Harris found herself with no shortage of strong contenders: an astronaut senator from Arizona, a dynamic battleground governor from Pennsylvania and a newly elected Republican from Kentucky.
Instead, Harris chose a smiling political boxer from the upper Midwest.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s calm personality and likeability earned him the endorsement of new Democratic candidate Harris, and he made a splashy debut as Harris’ running mate on Tuesday in Philadelphia. A person familiar with Walz’s selection told USA Today that in addition to his track record of winning on progressive policies and leadership experience, Walz’s enthusiastic personality and rapport with Harris set him apart from other running mates.
“He’s the type of person that makes people feel like they belong and inspires people to dream big,” Harris said. “And that’s exactly the type of vice president he’ll be, and the type of vice president that America wants.”
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Speaking at a joint campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Harris praised the two new members as “joyful warriors” who are running a vibrant campaign that stands out from the relatively lackluster one before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and from what critics say is the disjointed and pessimistic rhetoric of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
That’s partly thanks to Mr. Waltz, say those who know him: a communicator who is always upbeat and not afraid to get his hands dirty.
Days after Harris’ nomination, jokes about the former teacher’s Minnesota decorum circulated online.
Colleagues and former students say the governor, who is now the top attack dog against Democratic candidate Donald Trump, truly deserves the “nice guy” charge.
Plus: Will VP candidate Tim Walz’s “everyday Joe vibe” appeal to Arizona men?
Stubborn roots in the classroom
Walz didn’t get into politics by going to law school or serving on a small city council, but by being denied entry to a campaign rally.
In 2004, Waltz took two of another teacher’s children to a rally for President George W. Bush in Mankato, Minnesota, but they were denied entry for various reasons.
Walz said the students were denied entry in 2020 because they were affiliating with the Democratic Party, but it’s unclear how that was discovered. According to a local report from Fox 9, a Minnesota news station, one of the children was identified as a Democrat because he had a sticker of John Kerry, Bush’s opponent.
Walz said he fought their removal but was ultimately overruled. Two years later, he ran for Congress on a platform of bipartisan cooperation in a district that hadn’t voted Democratic since the 19th century.
Angie Brunner, 40, told USA Today that her senior year geography teacher, “Mr. Waltz,” was passionate and kind, but also very stubborn. Brunner vividly remembers a minutes-long confrontation between Mr. Waltz and another student.
The student “put his hands in his pockets and was like, ‘I’m done with this guy,'” she said. “And I remember the smile on his face,” she said of Waltz. “He said, ‘Son, whether you like it or not, we’re going to be here together.'”
According to Brunner, the brushwork continued after the class bell rang, but Waltz was adamant about giving every student a brush. “He kept brushing until they didn’t care anymore,” Brunner said. “He was laughing at the time.”
Plus: “Get off the couch”: Waltz’s J.D. Vance joke is dirty, and some say it’s about time
Michael Sipe, who taught social studies with Waltz at Mankato West High School, said he doesn’t despise his fellow educator just because he doesn’t agree with his political views.
“If you knew Tim, you liked Tim. You didn’t always agree with him, but you liked Tim as a person,” he told USA Today.
Walz is known locally for not using a teleprompter while speaking, which Sipe said is an example of Walz’s integrity.
Waltz had a politician’s knack for making everyone he met feel special. “When he spoke to you, even if it was a crowded room, you were the only person he spoke to,” Sipe said. “Everybody felt valued when they were with Tim.”
“What a gift.”
Justin Smith only told Waltz his name once, and Waltz hasn’t forgotten it since.
Walz, a 26-year-old disability activist and author who has cerebral palsy and uses a communications device to speak, told USA Today that he makes an effort to greet the governor whenever he attends his events.
“Can you imagine what it would be like to have that kind of attention,” Smith said. “He never talks down to me and he always treats me with respect.”
More: Republican critics say Tim Walz ‘burned Minnesota’ with 2020 protests. Here’s what happened
The two met when Smith served as a state delegate for Walz during the 2018 gubernatorial race, and they often discuss accessibility issues. “He makes me feel like I have a seat at the table,” Smith said. “I can voice my opinion on issues that are important to people with disabilities. It’s such a gift.”
Jason Bauman and Jared Stein were students at Winona State University when they volunteered on Walz’s first congressional campaign in 2006. Bauman told USA Today that Walz was charismatic from the start, exuding a “relatable dad” and “good vibes,” and Republicans responded to that.
In 2007, during Walz’s first year in Congress, Stein, 22, died suddenly. To Bauman’s surprise, Stein, who was then a congressman, showed up to the funeral unannounced, about 100 miles from his district.
A year later, Walz stood on the House floor to remember Steen and his work for textbook pricing transparency.
“For Walz to attend the funeral and put his name forward in Congress shows what an honest and down-to-earth person he is,” Bauman said.
Smiling and showing political teeth
Ken Martin was campaigning for then-Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign in Minnesota when he got a call from a disgruntled teacher who had been denied entry to a Bush rally and was looking to take his first steps into politics.
Martin, who currently serves as chairman of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, appointed Walz to chair the Kelly Veterans Movement and said “the rest is history.”
Walz, now in his second term, enjoys the benefits of the separation of powers, with Democrats controlling both the House and Senate. He has passed historically progressive policies, including reproductive rights legislation and universal school lunches, but his tenure has also been fraught with hardships in the state and across the nation.
Martin said Walz tried to lead “difficult conversations with joy and optimism” as he managed the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Even Donald Trump in the White House praised Walz’s response to the George Floyd unrest, but Republicans now criticize him for allowing the violence to spread.
Plus: Did you know Minnesota has another vice president? Tim Walz is looking to succeed Humphrey and Mondale
Walz is not the first vice presidential candidate to exude goodwill, nor is he the first Minnesotan.
Martin said restoring joy to politics, like Hubert Humphrey, who served as vice president under President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s and was nicknamed the “Happy Warrior” for his similarly upbeat attitude, is fundamental to Walz’s approach to the job.
Despite his positive image, Mr. Walz hasn’t always taken the high road. At his first campaign rally with Ms. Harris on Tuesday, he mocked his opponent, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, with a lewd Internet meme. And he hasn’t shied away from taking on former President Donald Trump in a race that polls as tied nationally.
It remains to be seen whether Walz’s optimistic stance will last through the remaining weeks of a newly invigorated Democratic campaign.
“I think it helps you win elections, but I also think it helps you govern,” Martin said. “I think that’s one of the big reasons he was chosen as the nominee.”
—Sam Woodward is a Minnesota election coverage fellow for USA Today. Woodward can be reached at woodward@gannett.com, X @woodyreports or in the thread @samjowoody.
