Tim Walz

Tim Walz
Walz in 2024
41st Governor of Minnesota
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2019
Lieutenant	Peggy Flanagan
Preceded by	Mark Dayton
Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee
In office January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Mark Takano (acting)
Succeeded by	Phil Roe
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 1st district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Gil Gutknecht
Succeeded by	Jim Hagedorn
Personal details
Born	Timothy James Walz (1964-04-06) April 6, 1964 West Point, Nebraska, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Gwen Whipple ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	2
Residence(s)	Governor's Residence Eastcliff Mansion
Education	Chadron State College (BS) Minnesota State University, Mankato (MS)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army Nebraska Army National Guard Minnesota Army National Guard
Years of service	1981–2005
Highest rank	Command sergeant major
Unit	1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment
Awards	Army Commendation Medal Army Achievement Medal (2)

Timothy James Walz (/wɔːlz/ WAWLZ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician, former schoolteacher, and retired U.S. Army non-commissioned officer who has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019 and is the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019, and was the ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2019.

Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska. After high school, he joined the Army National Guard and worked in manufacturing. He later graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska before moving 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 before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018. He was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Scott Jensen. During his second gubernatorial term, Walz pushed for and signed a wide range of legislation, including tax modifications, free school meals, bolstering state infrastructure, 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 United States presidential election.

Early life and education

Timothy James Walz was born on April 6, 1964, in West Point, Nebraska, to Darlene Rose Reiman, a homemaker, and James F. Walz, a teacher, school superintendent, and U.S. Army veteran who served in the Korean War. He is of German, Swedish, Luxembourgish, and Irish descent; his great-great-grandfather Sebastian Walz emigrated from Kuppenheim, Germany to the United States in 1867, and one of his grandmothers was Swedish American. Walz was raised Catholic.

Walz and his three siblings grew up in Valentine, Nebraska, a rural community near Nebraska's northern border. While Walz was in high school, his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. After his father's diagnosis, his family moved to Butte, Nebraska, to be closer to his parents' relatives. Walz graduated from Butte High School in 1982 with a class of 25 students.

After high school, Walz worked building tanning beds in a factory and served in the Army National Guard. His father died in January 1984. Walz subsequently went to college to become a teacher like his father, and earned a Bachelor of Science in social science education from Chadron State College in 1989.

Early career

Teaching

After graduating from Chadron State College in 1989, Walz accepted a one-year teaching position with WorldTeach in China. After returning, Walz took a job teaching and coaching in Alliance, Nebraska, where he met his wife, Gwen Whipple, a fellow teacher. He and Gwen married in 1994, and moved two years later to Mankato, Minnesota, in his wife's home state, where he worked as a geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School. The team had lost 27 straight games when he joined the coaching staff as a defensive coordinator. Three years later, in 1999, the team won its first state championship.

In 1999, Walz agreed to be the faculty advisor of Mankato West High School's first gay–straight alliance. He and his wife also ran Educational Travel Adventures, which organized summer educational trips for high-school students to China. Walz earned a Master of Science in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2001, writing his master's thesis on Holocaust education. In March 2006, he took a leave of absence from teaching to focus full time on his congressional campaign.

Military service

Walz during Army Basic Training, 1981

With his father's encouragement, Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard when he turned 17. His father had served in the Korean War and paid for his education degree with the G.I. Bill, and wanted his son to have the same opportunity.

Walz served in the National Guard for 24 years after enlisting in 1981. During his military career, he had postings in Arkansas, Texas, the Arctic Circle, New Ulm, Minnesota, and elsewhere. He trained in heavy artillery. During his service, he worked in disaster response postings following floods and tornadoes and was deployed overseas. In 1989, he earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year.

In August 2003, Walz deployed with the Minnesota National Guard to Vicenza, Italy, for nine months to serve with the European Security Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His decorations included the Army Commendation Medal and two Army Achievement Medals. Walz attained the rank of command sergeant major near the end of his service and briefly was the senior enlisted solider in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery Regiment. He retired as command sergeant major on May 15, 2005. His rank was later changed to master sergeant for retirement benefit purposes, since he did not complete required additional coursework. Months after his retirement, his unit received an official alert to prepare for deployment. Although Walz has been criticized for the timing of his retirement, a colleague said that at the time they had not been notified that they were going to be deployed.

Political involvement

Walz volunteered for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. He was inspired to volunteer in the presidential election after he took a group of students to a George W. Bush rally in Mankato, and was angered by the security team's questioning of his students' politics after they saw a Kerry sticker on a student's wallet. He was appointed the Kerry campaign's coordinator for his county as well as a district coordinator of Vets for Kerry. In 2005, Walz completed the two-and-a-half-day campaigns and elections crash course at Camp Wellstone, a program run by Wellstone Action, the nonprofit organization Mark and David Wellstone created to carry on the work of their parents, Paul Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone.

U.S. House of Representatives (2007–2019)

Elections

On February 10, 2005, Walz filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 1st congressional district. The congressional district consisted mostly of Republican-leaning independents. He had no opponent for the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) nomination in the 2006 primary election. In the general election, he faced six-term incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht. Walz campaigned heavily against the Iraq war, as the war's popularity was declining that year. Walz won the election with 53% of the vote. After his victory, Politico described Gutknecht as having been caught "off guard" and Walz as having "resolved never to get caught like that himself.... He packaged himself as a moderate from Day One, built an office centered on constituent service and carved out a niche as a tireless advocate for veterans."

Walz was reelected in 2008 with 62% of the vote, becoming only the second non-Republican to win a second full term in the district. He won a third term in 2010 with 49% of the vote in a three-way race against Republican state representative Randy Demmer and independent former diplomat Steve Wilson. Afterwards, he was reelected by comfortable margins in 2012 and 2014. In 2016, Walz was narrowly reelected to a sixth term, defeating Republican Jim Hagedorn by 0.7% even as his district overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump in the concurrent presidential election. Following this, and as his district trended more Republican, Walz opted not to seek a seventh term in 2018 and instead ran for governor.

Congressional tenure

Walz's 2006 Congressional portrait

Upon his swearing in at the beginning of the 110th Congress, Walz became the highest-ranking retired enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress, as well as only the fourth Democrat/DFLer to represent his district. The others were Thomas Wilson (1887–1889), William Harries (1891–1893), and Tim Penny (1983–1995).

In his first month in Congress, Walz was appointed to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Agriculture Committee, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a special waiver exempting him from the order that barred most freshman members of Congress from serving on more than two committees. That same year he was appointed to the Armed Services Committee, where, along with fellow Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, he opposed President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq. In his first week as a legislator, Walz cosponsored a bill to raise the minimum wage, voted for stem cell research, voted to allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices, and voiced support for pay-as-you-go budget rules, requiring that new spending or tax changes not add to the federal deficit.

Even as he represented a district that had usually voted Republican, pundits described Walz's policy positions as ranging from moderate to progressive. He voted to advance the Affordable Care Act out of the House. As a congressman, he also met with the Dalai Lama and served on a commission monitoring human-rights in China.

Walz, with Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Patrick Murphy, speaking on a spending bill, 2007

During the economic crisis in 2008, Walz repeatedly spoke out against using taxpayer money to bail out financial institutions; in late September, he voted against the $700 billion TARP bill, which purchased troubled assets from these institutions. Walz released a statement after the bill's passage, saying, "The bill we voted on today passes the buck when it comes to recouping the losses taxpayers might suffer. I also regret that this bill does not do enough to help average homeowners, or provide sufficient oversight of Wall Street."

For the same reasons, in December 2008 Walz voted against the bill that offered $14 billion in government loans to bail out the country's large automobile manufacturers. In June 2009, he introduced a bipartisan resolution calling on the federal government to "relinquish its temporary ownership interests in the General Motors Company and the Chrysler Group, LLC, as soon as possible" and said that the government must not be involved in those companies' management decisions.

Despite his votes against bailout bills that loaned taxpayer money to large banks and auto manufacturers, Walz did vote with his Democratic colleagues to support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As a member of the House Transportation Committee, he saw the stimulus bill as an opportunity to work "with his congressional colleagues to make job creation through investment in public infrastructure like roads, bridges and clean energy the cornerstone of the economic recovery plan". Walz has focused heavily on job and economic issues important to the southern Minnesota district he represented in Congress, which has a mix of larger employers such as the Mayo Clinic and small businesses and agricultural interests. In July 2009, he voted for the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act, which he called "part of our long-term economic blueprint to spur job creation by encouraging America's entrepreneurs to innovate toward breakthrough technological advancements". Walz also urged assistance for hog and dairy farmers who struggled with lower prices for their commodities in 2008 and 2009.

Walz opposes using merit pay for teachers. Voting in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Walz pointed to its strong provisions in support of public school buildings. He is on record supporting legislation to lower tuition costs. In a February 12, 2009, speech, he said that the most important thing to do "to ensure a solid base for [America's] economic future ... is to provide the best education possible for [American] children." Walz has received strong backing for these policies from many interest groups, including the National Education Association, the American Association of University Women, and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Walz with members of the Minnesota National Guard at Anoka High School, 2017

Walz received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood in 2012, from the American Civil Liberties Union in 2011, from the American Immigration Lawyers Association in 2009–2010, from the AFL-CIO in 2010, from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 2009–2010, and from the National Organization for Women in 2007. He also received single-digit ratings from the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, Americans for Tax Reform, and FreedomWorks. The United States Chamber of Commerce gave him a 25% rating in 2010.

Walz was ranked the 7th-most bipartisan House member during the 114th Congress (and the most bipartisan member from Minnesota) in the Bipartisan Index created by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of Congress by measuring how often their bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and how often they co-sponsor bills by members of the opposite party.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry
  • Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs (ranking member, 115th Congress)
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
• Committe on Transportation and Infrastructure
• Armed Services Committee

Caucus memberships

• Chair, Congressional EMS Caucus
• Co-Chair, National Guard and Reserve Component Caucus
• Co-Chair, Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus
• Co-Chair, Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus
• Member, LGBT Equality Caucus
• Member, Congressional Arts Caucus

Commissions

• Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Governor of Minnesota (2019–present)

Elections

2018

See also: 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Walz campaigning in Bemidji, Minnesota, 2018

Walz announced he would run for governor after Mark Dayton, the incumbent Democratic governor, chose not to seek a third term. On November 6, 2018, Walz was elected governor, defeating the Republican nominee, Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Johnson.

2022

See also: 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Walz sought reelection in 2022. He won the August 9 Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee Scott Jensen in the November general election. On November 8, 2022, Walz defeated Jensen, 52.3% to 44.6%.

Tenure

Tim Walz's swearing-in as Minnesota's 41st governor with his family by his side, 2019

Walz was sworn in as governor of Minnesota on January 7, 2019, at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul. Walz took the oath of office alongside incoming lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota secretary of state Steve Simon, Minnesota state auditor Julie Blaha, and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, all Democrats. Walz spoke about education and healthcare reform in his inauguration speech.

In 2023, Walz was named chair of the Democratic Governors Association, a high-profile position that involves supporting other governors in tight races. He stepped down after being selected as Kamala Harris's running mate. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly succeeded him as chair.

Police reform and protest response

See also: George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul

On May 26, 2020, the day after the murder of George Floyd, Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan demanded justice and called the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck "disturbing". Walz elaborated, "The lack of humanity in this disturbing video is sickening. We will get answers and seek justice". Walz first activated the Minnesota National Guard on 28 May, activating the entire state National Guard on 30 May. His decision was praised by Donald Trump at the time, and Trump later took credit for deploying the Guard.

Political opponents and other groups criticized Walz's initial response to the widespread protests following Floyd's murder. He later responded to the murder by ordering the Minnesota legislature to reconvene for special sessions on legislation for police reform and accountability. After police reform failed to pass the first special session in June, a second special session was held in July. On July 21, the legislature passed significant police reform legislation.

The new compromise law included a limited ban on police from using chokeholds so long as the officers are not at greater risk. It banned the old warrior training program, which was regarded as dehumanizing people and encouraging aggressive conduct. It required training peace officers to deal with people with autism or in a mental health crisis and de-escalation training for situations that could turn volatile. It also created a special independent unit at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for investigations of fatal police encounters and a community relations advisory council to consult with the Police Officers Standards and Training Board on policy changes. Walz signed the legislation into law on July 23, 2020.

Abortion and reproductive rights

See also: Abortion in Minnesota

In January 2023, Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act, which protects access to reproductive health care including abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments in Minnesota. Abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in Minnesota. In April 2023, he signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, which bans state agencies from "enforcing out-of-state subpoenas, arrest warrants, and extradition requests" for people who travel to Minnesota for legal abortion, and limits the release of related health records.

Cannabis

Walz at the signing ceremony for House File 100 legalizing recreational cannabis. He was joined by Minnesota's 38th governor, Jesse Ventura.

Walz advocated for the legalization of recreational cannabis as governor of Minnesota. As a candidate for governor in 2017, he said: "We have an opportunity in Minnesota to replace the current failed policy with one that creates tax revenue, grows jobs, builds opportunities for Minnesotans, protects Minnesota kids, and trusts adults to make personal decisions based on their personal freedoms." In 2022, he proposed the creation of a Cannabis Management Office to develop and implement the "regulatory framework for adult-use cannabis" in Minnesota. On May 30, 2023, he signed into law House File 100 to legalize recreational cannabis in Minnesota, which went into effect on August 1, 2023.

Medical debt

In June 2024, Walz signed the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act. Among other things, the act prevents health care providers from denying medically necessary treatment because of outstanding medical debt and prevents medical debt from affecting credit scores.

2023 legislative session

The 93rd Minnesota Legislature, in session from January to May 2023, was the first legislature to be fully Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party-controlled since the 88th Minnesota Legislature in 2013–2015. It passed several major reforms to Minnesota law, including requiring paid leave, banning noncompete agreements, cannabis legalization, increased spending on infrastructure and environmental issues, tax modifications, codifying abortion rights, universal free school meals, and universal gun background checks. The Star Tribune called the session "one of the most consequential" ever in Minnesota; Walz called it the "most productive session in Minnesota history". While Walz signed almost all legislation passed by the legislature, he vetoed a bill intended to increase pay for rideshare drivers, his first veto as governor, saying that it did not strike the right balance.

2024 and Feeding Our Future fraud scheme

In June 2024, five employees of the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future were convicted of the largest COVID-related fraud scheme, valued at $250 million. A Minnesota state audit report that criticized the Walz administration's handling of the matter revealed that the Minnesota Department of Education failed to oversee the nonprofit and perform its due diligence, which Walz admits and has taken responsibility for.

2024 vice presidential campaign

Main articles: Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign and 2024 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

Walz and Kamala Harris together in March 2024, prior to the start of the Harris–Walz 2024 campaign

On July 22, 2024, Walz endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after incumbent president Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race. Following a rapid vice-presidential selection process in which the Harris campaign also vetted Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, on August 6 Harris announced that she had chosen Walz as her running mate.

The Democratic National Committee certified Walz's candidacy the same day it was announced. His selection was praised by an ideologically diverse group of politicians, including progressive Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, centrist independent senator Joe Manchin, and moderate Republican former governor Larry Hogan.

Walz is credited with first publicly describing Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as "weird". The term subsequently became a popular meme, especially with young people, and has been widely used by Democrats. Within a day of Walz being named as Harris' running mate, his political opponents nicknamed him as "Tampon Tim" for his signing of a 2023 Minnesota bill that mandated that menstrual pads and tampons must be provided in public schools, free of charge, "to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12", while Walz' political supporters responded positively to the nickname and the bill he signed.

Political positions

Walz has been described as holding both moderate and progressive policy stances.

Abortion

Walz supports a legal right to abortion, and has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood. The National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion organization, gave him a rating of zero. In an interview with CNN's Kaitlin Collins in March 2024, Walz said "my neighboring states have tried to criminalize women getting health care" and characterized their policies as "a health care crisis," adding that states need to "trust women to make their own health care decisions" and to "understand that abortion is health care." Elsewhere in the interview, he said "I think old white men need to learn how to talk about this a little more. And I think the biggest thing is: listen to women." At a campaign rally with Vice President Harris in August 2024, Walz said "Some of us are old enough to remember when it was Republicans who were talking about freedom. It turns out now what they meant was that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office. In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule, 'Mind your own damn business.'"

Guns

Walz signing a bill to increase penalties for individuals who facilitate gun straw purchases, 2024

While in Congress, Walz was a strong supporter of gun rights and was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) multiple times, receiving an A grade from the organization. Following the Parkland high school shooting in 2018, he denounced the NRA in a Star Tribune opinion piece, and announced that he would donate the equivalent of all of the campaign contributions the NRA-PVF had given him—$18,000—to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. As governor, Walz expressed support for gun regulation. In 2023, he signed into law a public safety bill that establishes universal background checks and red-flag laws in Minnesota.

Israel–Hamas war

Walz condemned Hamas's October 7 attacks in Israel and ordered flags to be lowered to half staff in the following days. After the 2024 Minnesota Democratic presidential primary, in which 19% of voters cast "uncommitted" ballots, Walz took a sympathetic view toward those doing so to protest President Biden's handling of the war in Gaza, calling them "civically engaged".

Of the protests against U.S. funding of the war in Gaza, Walz said: "This issue is a humanitarian crisis. They have every right to be heard... These folks are asking for a change in course, they're asking for more pressure to be put on… You can hold competing things: that Israel has the right to defend itself, and the atrocities of October 7 are unacceptable, but Palestinian civilians being caught in this... has got to end." Walz also said he supports a ceasefire in Gaza.

Labor and workers' rights

Walz talking with workers at the Massman Automation manufacturing plant, 2024

In 2023, Walz signed a law banning captive audience meetings and non-compete clauses. The law also mandates paid sick leave for employees and increases safety inspections and ergonomics requirements to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries for warehouse, meatpacking, and healthcare facility workers. It also grants workers some of the strongest protections against wage theft. In October 2023, Walz joined the striking United Auto Workers' picket line. He is a former member of two teachers' unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

LGBT rights

Walz supports LGBTQ rights, including federal anti-discrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation. In a 2009 speech, he called for an end to the Don't ask, don't tell policy. Walz voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Sexual Orientation Employment Nondiscrimination Act. In 2007, he received a 90% grade from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT rights organization. In 2011, Walz announced his support for the Respect for Marriage Act. As governor, Walz has signed a number of bills that support the LGBTQ community. In 2023, he signed bills that banned the practice of conversion therapy and protected gender-affirming care in Minnesota.

Veterans' issues

Walz greeting President Joe Biden, 2023

Having served 24 years in the Army National Guard, as a freshman in Congress Walz was given a rare third committee membership when he was assigned to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Walz was the lead House sponsor of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which directs the Veterans Administration to report on veteran mental health care and suicide prevention programs. It also gives the VA permission to provide incentives to psychiatrists who agree to join the VA medical system.

Personal life

Walz and his wife, Gwen (born 1966), married on June 4, 1994. The couple underwent fertility treatment at the Mayo Clinic for seven years before their children were born in 2001 and 2006. They lived in Mankato, Minnesota, for nearly 20 years before moving to Saint Paul with their two children upon Walz's election as governor. Raised Catholic, Walz left the Church when he married his wife and is now a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In 1995, Walz was arrested on a driving under the influence charge. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving, and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days. He stopped drinking alcohol after the incident.

Walz's brother, Craig, died in 2016 after being struck by a falling tree during a storm while on a camping trip. Craig's son, who was also hit by the tree, survived but suffered severe injuries.

Walz and his wife sold their home when they moved into the Minnesota governor's residence in 2019. According to financial disclosures made while he was in Congress, which a spokesperson for his 2024 campaign confirms, they have owned no stocks or securities. Their pensions are their only noteworthy asset.

Walz owns a restored International Scout off-road vehicle. The Walz family has a dog named Scout and a cat named Honey.

Walz still speaks some Mandarin Chinese from the time he spent teaching in China.

Electoral history

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz	141,622	53.7	−
	Republican	Gil Gutknecht (incumbent)	126,487	47.1	−13

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz (incumbent)	207,748	62.5	+9.5
	Republican	Brian J. Davis	109,446	32.9	−
	Independence	Gregory Mikkelson	14,903	4.5	−

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz (incumbent)	122,390	49.4	−13.1
	Republican	Randy Demmer	109,261	44.1	+11.2
	Independence	Steven Wilson	13,243	5.3	+0.8

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz (incumbent)	193,211	57.5	+8.1
	Republican	Allen Quist	142,164	42.3	−1.8

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz (incumbent)	122,851	54.2	−3.3
	Republican	Jim Hagedorn	103,536	45.7	+3.4

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, District 1

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz (incumbent)	169,076	50.4	−3.8
	Republican	Jim Hagedorn	166,527	49.6	+3.9

2018 Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz	242,832	41.60%
	Democratic (DFL)	Erin Murphy	186,969	32.03%
	Democratic (DFL)	Lori Swanson	143,517	24.59%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Holden	6,398	1.10%
	Democratic (DFL)	Olé Savior	4,019	0.69%
Total votes			583,735	100%

2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz/Peggy Flanagan	1,393,096	53.84%	+3.77%
	Republican	Jeff Johnson/Donna Bergstrom	1,097,705	42.43%	−2.08%
	Grassroots	Chris Wright/Judith Schwartzbacker	68,667	2.65%	+1.07%
	Libertarian	Josh Welter/Mary O'Connor	26,735	1.03%	+0.11%
	n/a	Write-ins	1,084	0.04%	0.00%
Total votes			2,587,287	100.0%	N/A
	Democratic (DFL) hold

2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz/Peggy Flanagan (incumbent)	1,312,311	52.27%	–1.57%
	Republican	Scott Jensen/Matt Birk	1,119,911	44.61%	+2.18%
	Legal Marijuana Now	James McCaskel/David Sandbeck	29,435	1.17%	N/A
	Grassroots—LC	Steve Patterson/Matt Huff	22,604	0.90%	–1.75%
	Independence	Hugh McTavish/Mike Winter	18,156	0.72%	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Gabrielle Prosser/Kevin Dwire	7,240	0.29%	N/A
	n/a	Write-ins	1,026	0.04%	0.00%
Total votes			2,510,683	100.0%
	Democratic (DFL) hold

See also

• United States congressional delegations from Minnesota
• List of United States representatives from Minnesota

Further reading

• "55 Things to Know About Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ Pick for VP" (August 6, 2024) Politico

External links

• Official website of Harris Walz campaign
• Appearances on C-SPAN