What you need to know about Tim Walz Who is the man to secure victory for Kamala Harris?
Until today, Tim Walz was relatively unknown. But now he is set to secure Kamala Harris' victory in the US presidential election as running mate. A steep rise for a political nobody: who is this man?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- US presidential candidate Kamala Harris has picked Tim Walz, a running mate with a varied CV.
- Tim Walz comes from a humble background, he served in the National Guard, was a teacher and football coach.
- The current governor of Minnesota is considered down-to-earth and is expected to score particularly well with voters in the Midwest.
Until recently, Tim Walz was pretty much a nobody outside of Minnesota. Nevertheless, US presidential candidate Kamala Harris has chosen the governor of the Midwestern state as her candidate for vice president.
For many observers, the choice comes as a surprise. So who is Tim Walz? Here are the most important questions and answers.
Why did Kamala Harris choose Tim Walz as her running mate?
Tim Walz owes this not least to a buzzword: "weird". The word means "weird" or "strange", and Walz introduced it a few weeks ago in the election campaign against Donald Trump with huge success. It is not as denigrating as the insults that Trump constantly uses, but it does brand his rival as a figure with weird and unrealistic views.
With this catchy attribute, Walz has demonstrated his ability, which is valuable to the Harris campaign, to formulate simply and powerfully - in words that also open up access to voters without an academic education. As a white older man, Walz is supposed to be the complementary figure to Harris, who could be the first woman, black person and person of Asian descent in US history to take over the presidency.
Where was Tim Walz born and what is his background?
Walz was born in 1964 in a small town in the rural state of Nebraska, which is also part of the Midwest. He often talks about how his mother struggled to make ends meet after the death of his father. His father was a public school administrator and died of cancer when Walz was 19 years old.
What was Tim Walz's profession before he became a politician?
After high school, Tim Walz joined the National Guard at the age of 17. He first attended college in Nebraska, graduating in 1989 with a degree in social sciences.
Walz spent a year teaching abroad before returning to the U.S. to serve full-time in the National Guard. Over the course of his 24 years in the National Guard, Walz was deployed to a wide variety of locations, including the Arctic.
Walz later worked as a teacher on an indigenous reservation in the state of South Dakota and - as part of a Harvard University program - in China.
Is Tim Walz married?
Yes, he met his wife Gwen in his home state of Nebraska. They married in 1994 and later moved to Gwen's home state of Minnesota, where they both worked as teachers at the same high school and he was also a football coach. They have two children.
When did Tim Walz switch to politics?
Walz only switched to politics in the middle of his professional career: he was elected to the House of Representatives in Washington in 2006. In 2018, he successfully ran for the office of Governor of Minnesota and was re-elected in 2022. His political profile combines a popular appearance and clear language with left-wing positions.
What policies does Tim Walz stand for?
As governor, he campaigned for free school meals, protecting abortion rights, strengthening voting rights, expanding renewable energy, tax cuts for the middle class and extending paid leave for workers in Minnesota. These are all positions he shares with Harris. He is known for his down-to-earth and direct way of conveying political messages.
"We have the same values. We believe we can win the Midwest," Walz said of Harris two weeks ago. After he was then recruited by her as her running mate on Tuesday, he appeared excited: "It reminds me a bit of the first day of school," he confessed in the online service X - and immediately added combatively with a view to the election campaign: "Now let's get this done, people!"
Where does Tim Walz stand on stricter gun laws?
His stance on guns has changed over the years. "I'm a veteran, a hunter and a gun owner. But I'm also a father. And for many years I was a teacher," he wrote on Platform X at the end of July. Gun laws are not a threat to his rights, he said. "It's about protecting our children."
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