Democrat presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, former football coach, teacher, and Army veteran, as her 2024 running mate after an intense, hurried two-week vetting process.
Walz, who is 60, is a veteran politician who served in Congress from 2007 to 2019. In 2019, he defeated Republican Jeff Johnson to be elected governor of Minnesota. He was re-elected in 2022 after holding off a challenge from GOP candidate Scott Jensen.
Progressives have praised the strong support by Walz for unions as well as his record of accomplishments as governor, which include universal free school lunches and breakfasts for students — despite income — and making the midwestern state a refuge for children seeking medical procedures to affirm gender.
This solid far-left record and Walz’s straightforward demeanor reportedly delighted the Harris campaign, which was searching for a partner who could reinforce the Democratic ticket’s Midwestern battleground state strength.
However, the GOP has already started using numerous controversies tied to Walz’s tenure as governor in its attacks on his record.
DUI arrest in 1995
In previous campaigns, Walz has tried to downplay his arrest for drunk driving in the mid-1990s, but questions about his encounter with law enforcement continue to follow him. An Alpha News report from 2022 uncovered court records that cast doubt on the version of the story Walz recounted on the campaign trail.
On September 23, 1995, Walz was pulled over while working as a teacher in his home state of Nebraska for driving 96 mph in a 55-mph zone.
In comments to reporters, Walz’s 2006 campaign for Congress in the 1st District of Minnesota insisted he was “not drunk” and blamed the incident on a “misunderstanding” with law enforcement regarding “Walz’s deafness,” which his then-campaign manager said has since been “surgically corrected.”
However, Alpha News obtained a state trooper’s report contradicting those claims.
“A strong odor of alcoholic beverage was detected emitting from Mr. Walz[‘s] breath and person,” said the report. The officer indicated Walz submitted to and then failed both a preliminary breath test and a field sobriety test. He was then taken to Charon Hospital for a blood test before being booked at Dawes County Jail.
Walz was initially charged with speeding and driving under the influence; however, he pled guilty to one count of reckless driving, according to the Alpha News report.
BLM riots
Critics of Walz say his handling of the Minneapolis riots following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a law enforcement officer was a low point and failure of his first term as governor.
“[H] e’s been a disaster for Minnesota and is by far the most partisan governor that I can remember having,” said David Hann, Minnesota Republican Chairman. “Going back to 2020, certainly — he did nothing to try to stop the riots going on in Minneapolis. I think he was fearful of alienating his ‘progressive’ base, who were supporting the riots. Kamala Harris was raising money for the rioters.”
Walz ultimately ended up deploying the National Guard to halt the violence, which included the burning of a police station. However, Republican legislators have said that the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, and the governor were slow to act.
GOP state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka accused Walz of a delayed response to the riots, which left downtown Minneapolis businesses in ruins.
“I called the White House after [four] days of unbridled rioting with the Governor frozen on what to do,” wrote Gazelka on X July 28. “I know that Gov[.] Walz and Pres[ident] Trump talked. I know Walz finally brought the Guard out in full for the next night. But Walz was [three] days too late. Pressure may have made him move.”
Similarly, Hann said Walz “waited for three days before he could bring himself to ask for the National Guard to be deployed.” Additionally, he pointed to the “defund” police movement’s roots in Minnesota following Floyd’s murder and the following rioting in the Twin Cities.
The delayed action’s result caused hundreds of businesses across St. Paul and Minneapolis to be devastated by the destruction. They had to ask the local government for assistance recovering — in addition to what they lost during the pandemic closures.
Lockdowns during Covid-19
In his first term as governor, Walz oversaw Minnesota’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Like other Democratic leaders, he endorsed heavy-handed pandemic restrictions, including mask mandates and lockdowns.
The Upper Midwest Center unsuccessfully challenged Walz’s 2020 indoor mask mandate on constitutional grounds; however, an appellate court agreed with Walz.
Walz additionally set up a hotline to report residents who violated Covid-19 mandates.
Leader Gazelka asked Walz to “please take [the] Hotline down” in a post after it was instituted, calling the move “unnecessary.”
“We can all show a bit of kindness to our neighbors as we manage our times and needs differently in the stay-at-home efforts,” said the state senator at the time.
Fraud investigation into pandemic relief
Republicans — in addition to complaints over the governor’s pandemic-era regulations — have blamed the governor for negligent oversight of pandemic programs that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Federal prosecutors have charged 70 individuals with defrauding federal food programs that funded meals for children during the pandemic from the $250 million, all on Walz’s watch. Labeled the Feeding Our Future scandal, it’s one of the country’s most significant pandemic aid fraud cases. Nonpartisan watchdog Office of the Legislative Auditor delivered a searing report in June that stated Walz’s Department of Education “failed to act on warning signs,” didn’t exercise its authority effectively, and was unprepared to respond.
Walz’s interference in police shooting case
Earlier this year, Walz came under fire from Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County Attorney, for his comments on a police shooting case handled by her office.
In June, Moriarty dropped the case against Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan, who was accused in the fatal shooting of Ricky Cobb II, a Black motorist. In a press conference that announced her decision, Moriarty made remarks against Governor Walz, stating he had been “very active in inserting himself into this case” and was conflicted since he is in control of the Minnesota State Patrol, according to Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul.
“Have you ever seen this governor intervene in any case involving a defendant in his entire tenure?” said Moriarty on June 3. “Why is it appropriate for a governor, who has never picked up the phone to call me, who is not a lawyer, who does not understand the nuances of this case, to talk about it publicly? To center Mr. Londregan as being the victim in this case. Why has that been appropriate? Why hasn’t that been called out?”
Later, Walz told reporters that if Moriarty hadn’t dropped the charges against Londregan, he would have used his executive authority to take her off the case.
“It was my hope that the county attorney would get to this position…At some point, if this decision had not been made, yes, we would have done that,” said Walz.
According to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, rumors of Walz’s intention to remove the case didn’t affect Moriarty’s decision.
