Timothy James Walz is an American politician, teacher, and Army National Guard veteran who has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, and served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019.
Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska. After high school, he joined the Army National Guard and worked in a factory. He later graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska and then moved to Minnesota in 1996. Before running for Congress, he was a high school social studies teacher and football coach. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota's 1st congressional district in 2006, defeating six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht.
Walz was reelected to the House five times and was the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2019. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and reelected in 2022, holding office during the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota. During his first term, protests and riots related to the murder of George Floyd occurred. During his second term, he pushed for and signed a wide range of legislation, including tax modifications, free school meals, bolstering state infrastructure, universal gun background checks, codifying abortion rights, and free college tuition for low-income families.
On August 6, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate in the 2024 election. Their ticket was defeated by Republican nominees Donald Trump and JD Vance.
