Minnesota is a traditionally Democratic state, but it is also close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two swing states considered crucial for determining the next president.

Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota whom Kamala Harris has chosen as her vice-presidential candidate for the upcoming November elections, is a National Guard veteran and former educator. He has political experience, having served 12 years in the House of Representatives, although his political career has not been typical.

Though little known outside his state, the 60-year-old Walz has gained attention in recent weeks for his sharp criticisms of Donald Trump and his associates, whom he calls “bizarre guys.” “We are not afraid of bizarre guys,” he said at a recent campaign rally. “Trust my experience in education; bullies have no power.”

Walz hails from Nebraska and spent many years in education as a geography teacher and American football coach. Notably, he taught in China for a few months immediately following the Tiananmen Square events in the spring of 1989. “Being in a Chinese high school at that critical moment felt really important,” he admitted years later before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he was elected for 12 years.

In January 2019, Tim Walz was elected governor of Minnesota, a state bordering Canada in the Great Lakes region. About a year later, he had to face two major crises: the Covid-19 pandemic and the death of African-American George Floyd during a violent arrest by a white police officer. Minneapolis, the state’s largest city, became the starting point for a massive anti-racist movement that shook the U.S. for many months.

Republicans accuse the governor of being “lenient” on crime, while Democrats praise his work in protecting abortion rights. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2022, which overturned the federal constitutional protection of this right, Tim Walz pledged that his state would become a sanctuary for women seeking abortions. A clinic in neighboring North Dakota, where the laws are much stricter, moved across the border to Minnesota.

In March 2024, Walz joined Kamala Harris on a visit to an abortion clinic, the first visit by a U.S. vice president to such a medical facility. Walz has defended women’s reproductive rights while also showing conservative tendencies when he represented a rural Minnesota district in the House, a former Republican stronghold: he defended farmers’ interests and supported the right to bear arms.

Minnesota is a traditionally Democratic state, but it is also close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two swing states considered crucial for determining the next president. Walz has the ability to attract white rural voters who have broadly supported Republican Donald Trump in recent years. Harris’ team also hopes that Walz’s career in the National Guard, his successful tenure as a school football coach, and his humorous videos will attract voters who are undecided about whether to send Trump back to the White House.

Recently, Walz has also challenged the claims of Trump and his vice-presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, about their dedication to the “middle class.” “They constantly talk about the middle class. A capitalist real estate mogul and a venture capitalist investor are trying to tell us they understand who we are? They don’t know who we are,” he said in an interview with MSNBC.

Walz is a Lutheran and has two children with his wife, Gwen Whipple, whom he married in 1994.