Tim Walz has rocketed into national prominence as the plain-talking governor of Minnesota, but his 12 years on Capitol Hill offer hints about how he might work with Congress if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the White House.
His focus on farming and veterans issues are both subjects Democrats hope can help appeal to swing voters, especially those across key battlegrounds such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
His House career also reflects the changing political landscape Walz will now campaign in as Harris’s pick for vice president.
A six-term House member from a rural district spanning east to west across southern Minnesota, Walz won his last re-election to Congress in 2016 by only 2,500 votes, two years after defeating the same opponent by nearly 20,000.
Donald Trump’s emergence as a political force had shifted rural districts like Walz’s hard to the right. Walz ran for governor and won in 2018, landing the post that has led to his selection as Harris’ running mate, and signing into law significant liberal policies on abortion and taxes.
Those ideas made him a progressive darling as Harris vetted candidates. But he struck a more moderate profile during his time in the House. Many fellow Democrats emphasized that approach as they now look to the presidential race, and stress the Midwestern dad persona that has suddenly made the governor a national figure.
“You meet him, spend a little time with him, it’s hard not to like him,” said former Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), whose district adjoined Walz’s. “He’s an extremely pragmatic, smart individual.”
Or as Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer (N.D.) put it, “In the House, he was much more reasonable than he is as governor.” (The two shared neighboring states and Washington offices when they were in the House).
Republicans quickly took aim at his policies, mostly focusing on his time as governor, when he adopted more liberal stances than he had as a House member in a competitive district. By the 2020 election, the district Walz had represented voted for Trump over Democrat Joe Biden by 10 points.
“Walz is an empty suit who has worked to turn Minnesota into Harris’ home state of California,” Republican House Whip Tom Emmer, a fellow Minnesotan, wrote on X, trying to undercut the Democrat’s Midwestern bona fides.
The Trump campaign blasted Walz as a “rubber stamp” for liberal policies, and Republicans have already started drawing attention toward the unrest that unfolded in Minnesota after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police while Walz was governor.
Crossing Party Lines
Elected as part of the anti-Iraq War Democratic wave of 2006, Walz ousted a six-term incumbent and flipped a longtime Republican district that had been redrawn after the 2000 census. His House voting record largely lined up with fellow Democrats, including his support for the Affordable Care Act. Walz became known as the Mayo Clinic’s representative, a reference to the prominent medical research institution that is the state’s largest employer and is based in Rochester, the district’s biggest city.
But the former Army National Guard member, high school social studies teacher and football coach crossed party lines on some high-profile issues.
He was among 17 House Democrats who voted in 2012 to cite then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents related to a federal gun investigation.
He also opposed tighter gun laws, presenting himself as a hunter representing rural voters, and was backed by the National Rifle Association. He was one of six Democrats in 2017 who supported a bill to block the Social Security Administration from barring individuals with mental disabilities who receive benefits from buying firearms.
“Like me, he loves the outdoors; he hunts,” Kind said. “It’s part of our way of life.”
Kind, now a senior counsel at the law and lobbying firm Arnold & Porter, predicted Walz’s knowledge of military issues would also help in swing states.
Midwest Ally
Walz’s primary work in the House was on the Veterans’ Affairs and Agriculture committees.
“Growing up, I learned to be generous toward my neighbors, compromise without compromising my values, and to work for the common good,” Walz wrote on X Tuesday afternoon.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) predicted Walz “can help Kamala govern.”
“He’s got a lot of relationships on the Hill,” Takano said.
Takano and Walz were initially rivals on the veterans panel but became allies.
The California progressive was the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in 2016 when Walz challenged him for the post and won in a bitter contest. The two could have remained foes, Takano said. Instead, Walz included him in major decisions.
Walz and then-Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) were lead sponsors of the Veteran Skills to Jobs Act (Public Law 112-147) which directed federal departments and agencies to count military training toward satisfying training or certification requirements for federal licenses.
On the House Agriculture Committee, Walz had a hand in crafting the Farm Bill, a sprawling piece of bipartisan legislation. He sat on conference committees for the 2014 and 2018 versions, helping hammer out the final compromises and urging lawmakers to “reject radical ideology and embrace bipartisanship.”
Walz could be a key ally of Midwestern farmers, who worry that some proposals for the farm bill in development now favor Southern farmers and who are losing the powerful influence of retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). Walz has been a strong advocate for farm risk management, having represented a state with a reliance on corn and soybean crops that are common across his region.
“He was very focused on issues of economic opportunity,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who served in the House with Walz for a decade.
Walz was among the lawmakers who pushed to strengthen a ban on insider trading by members of Congress, resulting in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act or STOCK Act (Public Law 112-105) in 2012.
As a member of the New Democrat Coalition, Walz also aligned with a group that considers itself the pragmatic wing of the party.
“Governor Walz has proven that leading from the middle, embracing a big tent, and rejecting partisan litmus tests is how we deliver for the American people,” the group said in a statement Tuesday.
Walz cut a more liberal profile as governor of a blue state, signing legislation that codified abortion rights, guaranteed paid family and medical leave, and provided the nation’s largest child tax credit.
And he broke with the NRA, endorsing tighter restrictions on gun ownership after a 2018 mass shooting at a Florida school.
“He did an outstanding job of working with the slimmest of majorities to pass some of the most meaningful legislation in Minnesota,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), a former lieutenant governor.
Capitol Network
A significant network of former Walz House aides still work on Capitol Hill. Some now work for fellow Minnesota Democrats such as Smith, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Rep. Angie Craig.
Other Walz alumni serve in other senior positions for the House Ways and Means and Veterans’ Affairs committees as well as for Reps. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.).
Those who have moved into the lobbying sector include Matt Wohlman, vice president of government relations at Land O’Lakes Inc., according to the Minnesota-based dairy and agriculture company’s website.
Jeremy Bratt, another former Walz congressional aide, now runs a consulting firm in Maryland and counts the state of Minnesota among his clients, according to lobbying disclosures from July.
— With assistance from
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