WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Joe Biden and Harris, his vice president, seeking a second term together, Democrats weren’t supposed to have a veep search at all. But as soon as the 81-year-old president ended his campaign and endorsed Harris, it was go time. And there was no playbook for the newly elevated candidate and a vetting team that in a normal campaign would have months, not days, to make such a critical decision. The process offered a preview of how Harris might fare under the pressures of the Oval Office, quickly working through options, with minimal leaks from her team. In the end, she selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Tim Walz made his debut on the national stage today as a vice presidential candidate, in a speech in which he emphasized his small-town background and values and contrasted them to a “weird” and “creepy” Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. “I just have to say it, you know if and you feel it, these guys are creepy and just weird as hell.”

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Who is Tim Walz???

1. Walz has been the Minnesota governor since 2018.
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2. Walz grew up in Nebraska and worked on a farm.
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As a kid, he worked on his family’s farm in Nebraska and joined the National Guard as a teenager to help pay for college. After graduating with a teaching degree, Walz taught in China for a year and then in Nebraska before moving to Minnesota in 1996.

He spent years as a social studies teacher and football coach in the Mankato school district in southern Minnesota before launching his bid for Congress in 2006.


3. Walz was a congressman for 12 years.
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He represented Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District from 2007-2019. It’s a rural part of the state, and Walz unseated a Republican to win the seat. During his tenure, Walz was a strong voice on veterans issues and became the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

As a member of Congress, Walz’s pro-gun voting record earned him an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. But he blasted the NRA after the 2018 high school massacre in Parkland, Florida, and as governor, he signed into law universal background checks and a “red flag” policy.


4. Walz is the father of two children.
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Walz has talked openly about how he and his wife struggled to have children. He did not specifically say that he and his wife used in vitro fertilization, but rather “things like IVF” that he said Republicans would ban. Abortion rights and access to reproductive health care more broadly have been major Democratic policy priorities since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion in 2022.


5. Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years.
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He retired in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the highest enlisted ranks. Walz has credited his Army National Guard service with sharpening his leadership skills as a congressman and governor.

“In the Guard, you put your community first,” Walz said in a 2020 Army press release. “Everything you do, you do to ensure the health, safety and security of the people who are depending on you. And as governor, those are principles of servant leadership that I rely on every day.”



6. The Midwestern Democrat likes to be a "regular guy".
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Walz’s plain-spoken approach to politics and willingness to engage with people on social media like a normal person has attracted many fans.

Walz regularly shares photos of his cat, which means the crucial “childless cat ladies” voting bloc will almost certainly have his back. He brings family members into hilarious but official public service announcements as governor.