Tim Walz

Walz married Gwen Whipple, a fellow teacher, in 1994 after the two met while working in adjacent temporary classrooms. The couple had two children, Hope and Gus, both conceived through fertility treatments. Together, Walz and his wife established Educational Travel Adventures, an organization that coordinated educational trips to China for high school students. The family resided in Mankato before moving to the Governor's Residence in St. Paul.

Outside of public office, Walz is a long-distance runner and an avid hunter. He has spent time restoring a vintage 1970s International Scout vehicle and frequently visits local dog parks with Scout, a black Labrador mix adopted by the family in 2019.

Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz grew up in the rural town of Butte and graduated from Butte High School in 1982. He enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17 and served for 24 years, attaining the rank of command sergeant major in the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion. In 2003, he deployed to Italy for nine months in support of operations during the Iraq War before retiring from service in 2005.

Walz pursued a career in education alongside his military duties, earning a bachelor's degree in social science education from Chadron State College in 1989. After graduation, he joined one of the first government-sanctioned groups of American educators teaching in Chinese high schools through a Harvard University fellowship program. After returning to the United States, he taught on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and in public schools in Alliance, Nebraska.

In 1996, Walz moved to Minnesota and joined the faculty at Mankato West High School, where he taught geography and English while coaching basketball and football. In 1999, he served as the faculty adviser for the school's first gay-straight alliance chapter. He completed a master's degree in educational leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 2001.

Walz became involved in electoral politics during the 2004 presidential election, serving as a county coordinator and veterans' outreach director for John Kerry's campaign. In 2006, he launched a campaign for Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, a historically conservative area spanning southern Minnesota. He defeated six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht, becoming the highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

During his 12 years in Congress, Walz won five reelections and served on the House Agriculture Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Veterans' Affairs Committee, where he eventually became ranking member in 2017. He sponsored more than 75 legislative proposals, focusing on veterans' healthcare, mental health, and agriculture. Among his notable legislative accomplishments was the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, which prohibited members of Congress and staff from insider trading based on nonpublic information.

Walz established a reputation for bipartisan engagement, frequently co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Republican colleagues. Although he held an endorsement and high rating from the National Rifle Association early in his congressional tenure, he later broke with the organization following the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, donating prior campaign contributions to a military family charity and endorsing measures such as universal background checks and assault weapon restrictions.

In 2018, Walz ran for governor of Minnesota on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ticket alongside running mate Peggy Flanagan. He won the general election against Republican nominee Jeff Johnson with over 53 percent of the vote and was sworn into office in January 2019. In his first term, his administration addressed statewide infrastructure investment, education funding, and public safety challenges. In May 2020, following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Walz convened a special legislative session that resulted in comprehensive state policing accountability reform.

Walz won reelection in November 2022, defeating Republican challenger Scott Jensen. During his second term, the state enacted major policy changes, including a statewide paid family leave program, the legalization and regulation of adult-use recreational cannabis, an expansion of voting rights for approximately 55,000 formerly incarcerated residents, and universal free breakfast and lunch for all students in participating Minnesota schools.

In August 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris selected Walz as her vice presidential running mate for the Democratic presidential ticket. Following the 2024 general election, Walz resumed his full gubernatorial responsibilities in Minnesota. In January 2026, he announced that he would not seek a third term as governor.