Consider this from NPR: NPR

As governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz helped greenlight a number of progressive policy priorities.

“As a governor, coach, teacher and veteran, he has given back to working families like his own,” Kamala Harris wrote in a statement. “We will build a great partnership.”

In his first term as governor, Walz worked with a divided government to pass a state budget that pleased both parties: more spending on schools and a tax cut.

After his re-election in 2022 and with Democrats in control of the state legislature, Walz helped his party usher in another round of progressive policies, including:

• Free school meals for students
• Legal Protections for Abortion and Those Seeking Gender-Affirming Treatment
• New gun restrictions
• Paid family and medical leave for workers

Harris chose Walz because of his executive experience and leadership on these issues, according to sources close to the campaign who were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly. The source also pointed to his Midwestern background, which would help attract swing voters, and his ability to be an effective messenger against the Trump-Vance ticket.

When asked by CNN State of the Union Asked whether these policies would make him too progressive a candidate, Walz responded sarcastically.

“What a monster. Kids eat and eat and have full bellies so they can go to school and women make their own health decisions,” she said. “So if that’s the label they want to give me, I’m more than happy to accept the label.”

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A simple start and a popular behavior

Walz is now on the national scene, but his life began in a small town in rural Nebraska.

“My town had 400 people, 24 kids in my graduating class, 12 were cousins,” he told MSBNC Good morning Joe recently.

At age 17, he enlisted in the Army National Guard, then enrolled in college on the GI Bill. Walz eventually became a public school teacher and married fellow educator Gwen Whipple.

Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota and chair of the state’s largest teachers union, said Walz never forgot his roots in teaching.

“He’s been a great governor to work with, you know, his record of investing in public education. Everything he’s done to improve the working lives of working families, protecting collective bargaining,” Specht said. “He has a great track record that I think would resonate across the country.”

A fast-talking, rustic former high school football coach, he often wears a simple T-shirt and baseball cap on casual occasions instead of a suit, and enjoys using dad jokes and quips to poke fun at political rivals.

In recent interviews, Walz has called former President Donald Trump’s policy priorities “weird,” priorities that Harris’s campaign has since embraced and continued.

Walz is not without political problems or criticism

Walz has faced setbacks during his tenure as governor. He initially had a good working relationship with former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, a Republican.

“We found compromises that worked well for the state of Minnesota,” Gazelka told NPR. “He ultimately agreed to the tax cuts that I was pushing for and agreed to fund education at higher levels than I thought we should.”

However, that relationship soured as COVID-19 spread and Walz instituted mask mandates and business and school closures, frustrating critics.

He has also faced harsh criticism for his handling of protests and riots following the killing of George Floyd, after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck. Walz called in thousands of National Guard troops and state troopers, but not quickly enough to prevent the burning of a police precinct and the looting of several businesses.

He and Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have publicly disagreed over who should take responsibility.

“I felt like it was stalled,” Gazelka said. “And that delayed the National Guard out three days later than Mayor Frey requested. And it’s just unacceptable that we couldn’t handle the crisis the way I think it should have been handled.”