All eyes were on Josh Shapiro in the weeks before Kamala Harris picked her running mate. He seemed a good choice, especially since he could attract Pennsylvania voters. But even the promise of swing state voters couldn’t cover his biggest “flaw”—Shapiro is Jewish in a party that dislikes Israel.
Shapiro was dismissed as neatly as Joe Biden was, and a new winner emerged.
If Harris wins the election, Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota, would become the second most powerful person in the country. Here’s what voters should know about him.
Tim Walz is a politician, former teacher, and retired Army officer who has been Governor of Minnesota since 2019. He was born on April 6, 1964, in West Point, Nebraska. After high school, he joined the Army National Guard and later graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska. He moved to Minnesota in 1996.
Before entering politics, Walz was a high school teacher and football coach. He started his political career in 2006 as a U.S. Congressman for Minnesota’s 1st district and became governor in 2018.
Walz is not just a Democrat; he is part of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), which combines Democratic ideas with socialist views. He supports universal healthcare, free college tuition, and open borders. Walz has also visited China over thirty times, starting in 1989 when he taught American History and English there. He has praised and defended China many times.
Some National Guard veterans say Tim Walz retired early when he found out his unit was going to Iraq. They wrote a letter in 2018, saying he left them without a leader when they were preparing for war. They also claim he made it look like he served longer than he did and didn’t do the proper paperwork to leave the military.
Walz worked to make Minnesota a “trans refuge” state by signing laws that protect people seeking gender-affirming care. In April 2023, he signed a law that stops Minnesota from following subpoenas or arrest warrants from other states for people coming there for this type of care. He also ensured that Minnesota’s health insurance plans cover puberty blockers, surgeries, and hormone therapy. If parents don’t want their children to get these treatments, their kids could be taken from them. Kids who come to Minnesota for this care can be placed under the state’s care until their treatment is finished.
Tim Walz supports illegal immigration and has made jokes about giving immigrants tall ladders to climb over the border wall. In Minnesota, he has provided free college tuition, healthcare, and driver’s licenses for people in the country illegally.
In 2020, after George Floyd’s death, there was a lot of unrest in Minnesota. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey warned Walz about the growing violence and repeatedly asked him to send the National Guard. Frey even called Walz on the second night of the unrest to report that a Target store was being looted and asked for immediate help. Walz didn’t send in the troops until several days later, which led to more than $55 million in damage in Minneapolis. Some people think Walz didn’t act quickly because he didn’t want to upset progressives.
Tim Walz has been involved in a problem with a COVID-19 fraud scheme. Recently, it was discovered that at least 70 people stole over $250 million by misusing two programs meant to help people during the pandemic. They used a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future to hide from checks by the Minnesota Department of Education, which was supposed to oversee the programs.
These fraudsters made fake documents and lied about feeding millions of meals to kids. They used the stolen money to buy expensive items and properties. Walz has not yet taken action to hold anyone accountable for this fraud. A recent audit also found that another state agency didn’t responsibly manage payments for frontline workers, and up to $200 million might have been given to people committing fraud.
During the pandemic, Walz not only required people to wear masks but also set up a hotline for people to report others who didn’t follow the mask rules.
Minnesota has some of the highest taxes in the country. People pay a lot in income, sales, and property taxes. The state also taxes some of the money people get from retirement, and it’s one of the few states with a death tax. Minnesota’s 9.8% corporate tax rate is the highest in the country.
Team Trump is overjoyed that Harris selected Walz. With his antisemitism and rabidly progressive ideology, he may have just handed them the presidency.
