Gil Gutknecht, Tim Walz, and the State of the Economy: The First Republican Congressman to Win in Minnesota in Over a Century
After the Iraq war and state of the economy dominated the race, Gil Gutknecht became the first Republican congressman to lose in Minnesota in over a century. He was in congress for over a decade and then announced his bid for governor.
The first term of the House and Senate saw a divided government, and it washelmed by a Democrat. He worked with lawmakers in 2019 to pass a budget with wins for both sides — boosted spending for schools and a tax cut.
The compromises that we found worked well for Minnesota. He eventually agreed to tax cuts I was pushing, and I agreed to fund our education at levels higher than I thought was necessary.
Aiming to curb the spread of the virus, Walz ordered schools be emptied. Later, he ordered restaurants and houses of worship shut their doors and Minnesotans stay home and required that face masks be worn in public places.
The restrictions that were initially intended to be brief stretched on and some grew frustrated about the limitations on their lives and Walz’s authority.
Source: Harris taps Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate
Tim Walz Taps Minnesota Gov. George Floyd’s Victor: “It’s a First Year in Minneapolis, and I’m glad you’re here”
In May of 2020, Minnesota faced another moment of crisis. A Minneapolis cop knelt on George Floyd’s neck in front of the world to ask for help. Floyd died, and frustration ignited protests and riots around the city.
Walz called in thousands of National Guard soldiers and state troopers to police the Twin Cities, but not quickly enough to prevent the burning of a police precinct and looting of several businesses.
The riots were too much for me to allow to distract from the work we need to be doing as a society, and I refuse to have it take away from my attention.
Walz and Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey publicly disagreed over who should have taken charge. The governor acted too late, said the former Senate majority leader.
I felt like he was getting cold. “And that delayed getting the National Guard out three days beyond what Mayor Frey had requested. I think it should have been dealt with in a better way.
The National Guard call-up is a part of the Presidential race, with Trump claiming credit for soldiers being sent in after he talked to the Walz administration.
In their first year with a government trifecta, Democrats checked off every item on their wish list: free breakfast and lunch for students, legal protections for abortion and those seeking gender-affirming care, new clean energy mandates for utility companies, restrictions on guns, legalized marijuana, restoration of voter rights to the formerly incarcerated and paid family and medical leave benefits for workers.
Source: Harris taps Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate
Tim Walz: A Hero in Minnesota, a First Lieutenant Governor, and Kamala Harris’s Vpc, as Announced
In an interview the Education Minnesota President said that Walz has not forgotten his teaching roots while in office.
“He’s been a great governor to work with, you know, his record for investing in public education. Everything that he’s done to improve working lives for working families, protecting collective bargaining ,” Specht said. “He has a great track record that I think would resonate across this country.”
Walz’s policy wins helped launch the governor’s national profile. He became chair of the Democratic Governors Association and co-chair of the Democratic National Convention’s Rules Committee.
Asked if the raft of Minnesota policy changes would make him too progressive a candidate, he joked that he was a monster for supporting efforts to fund school lunches and guarantee legal protections for people seeking abortions.
The security guard told the man he was not allowed to enter and that he had been deemed a threat. It was a combination of being a little frustrated and realized how important it was that people were looked at the same way.
As Walz was tiptoeing into politics, he took a group of students to a campaign rally for then-President George W. Bush. Some people were wearing stickers supporting John Kerry when they were asked to leave.
He graduated from Chadron State College in 1989 with a degree in social science and spent a year teaching in China through an exchange program, then returned to his home state to teach. He met his wife while teaching. The pair lived in Minnesota in the 90’s where they both taught at a high school.
Walz was born and raised in rural Nebraska and enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17. He frequently points to his upbringing in a small community, noting that several of his cousins were classmates.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Tim Walz, the second-term Minnesota governor with a folksy demeanor, gained a spot on the Democratic ticket as Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice, two sources close to the campaign tell NPR.
The announcement comes as Democrats have rallied around Harris following President Biden’s decision to end his reelection campaign. Democrats have seen a renewed enthusiasm at rallies with Harris as their new leader. The Harris campaign says the vice president and her running mate will start in Philadelphia and end in Las Vegas.
Walz, former high school geography teacher, football coach and mother figure: How he became a governor and how he could win over voters in the Midwest
And he talked about being a high school teacher and a football coach. One of his former football players was on CNN after the speech, talking about how Walz helped him and was a father figure, as he was raised by a single mom.
But the 60-year-old governor could also face questions about his response to riots in Minneapolis following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and widespread fraud during COVID-19 under a federal program intended to feed kids. The state Department of Education missed some oversight, according to audits.
In recent interviews, Walz has described former President Donald Trump’s policy priorities as “weird” and said Democrats would expand reproductive health, voting and workers’ rights, if elected.
The former high school geography teacher and National Guard veteran, who helped green light a slate of progressive policy priorities in Minnesota, could help win over voters in Midwestern swing states.
“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires and then wrote a best seller trashing that community. Come on. Middle America isn’t what that is. I have to tell you that. I can’t wait to debate the guy. That is if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
He talked about how growing up in a rural community was different from city life and how his neighbors treated each other.
Kamala Harris: I see you down there. He’s a white guy, so why do you think he is a black guy?
He no doubt went after Trump and Vance, but a VP is also supposed to make the top of the ticket look better and bring balance. Walz certainly did that. Harris is the one who brings joy, but he is known for being joyful. She is getting that from him.
“Some of us are old enough to remember when it was Republicans who were talking about freedom. It turns out that they meant that the government should not be able to intrude on your doctor’s office. We do not allow ourselves to be offended by the choices neighbors make. It is a golden rule to not make the same choice for yourself. ”
“I see you down there. I see those old, white guys,” he said, jokingly pointing to others in the front rows before delivering a pretty progressive message:
He’s a white guy. Harris is a Black woman, and part of his job — the job of all running mates — is to testify, to bring reassurance to groups that might be skeptical of the person at the top of the ticket. It might be the white guys job to assure other white guys because there hasn’t been a woman as president.
Source: Takeaways from Tim Walz’s introduction to the national stage
Walz was not San Francisco: He was an attack line against his mate, not even in his speech at the U.S. Congressman
Walz ain’t from San Francisco. He said that in Tuesday night’s speech. The elephant in the room was the one off-the-cuff comment he made.
Harris didn’t know the Minnesota governor and former congressman well, if at all, before this process. The speech he gave with Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday made his appeal clear.
He was the man who called former President Donald Trump an attack line against his running mate, but he didn’t mention that in his speech.