Tim Walz held a pig at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair.
Office of Gov. Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate.
Walz comes from a rural background and has the vibe of a quintessential Midwestern dad.
His Midwestern activities have included hunting, making hotdishes, and shopping at Menards.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's Midwestern lore runs deep.
Now a household name as Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate, anecdotes from his years as a veteran, teacher, football coach, congressman, and governor continue to emerge and solidify his image as a quintessential Midwestern dad.
Walz's rural background and folksy charm don't just make for amusing stories — they've added momentum to Harris' campaign. A camouflage "Harris Walz" hat inspired by Walz's wardrobe staple sold out in minutes and raised nearly $1 million for Harris' campaign, Teen Vogue reported on Wednesday. His tactic of calling Donald Trump and JD Vance "weird" has also shifted the tone of the Democratic party's messaging around their opponents.
From winning hotdish competitions to shopping at Menards, here are some of Walz's most Midwestern moments.
As a social studies teacher at Mankato West High School, Walz also coached the football team.
Mankato West's football team.
MARLIN LEVISON/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Walz helped lead Mankato West to their first state championship victory in 1999 as the team's defensive coordinator.
"When I took the job, they said, 'Well, we're kind of struggling. We were 0-27,'" Walz said in an interview on "Pod Save America." "But I had some other coaches I worked with who were great guys and we said, 'This is nonsense. Let's just turn this thing around.' Three years later, state champion. Now, they're the state powerhouse."
While he held the role of football coach, Walz also served as the faculty advisor for the school's Gay Straight Alliance.
He once talked his way into getting a free turkey from a grocery store.
Tim Walz with a turkey.
Office of Gov. Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
Kim Hermer, who taught with Walz at Mankato West, told The Washington Post that some teachers once played a prank on Walz by giving him a fake gift certificate for a free turkey from a local grocery store.
"He went down there and left with a free turkey," Hermer told the Post.
Walz's hotdish recipe won a congressional hotdish competition.
The annual Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hotdish Competition.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Walz, who served in the House of Representatives for 12 years, took the top prize in the Minnesota Congressional Delegation's annual hotdish competition with his dish, "Tim's Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish." The recipe features ground turkey, green beans, cheddar cheese, baby bella mushrooms, and tater tots, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
He also won congressional sharpshooting contests.
Tim Walz chaired the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus.
Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images
As a member of the House of Representatives, Walz chaired the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus and competed in its annual Congressional Shoot-Out. He scored the highest of any Democrat in 2015 and 2016, according to the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation.
Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted his gun ownership and shooting skills in her speech introducing Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, saying he was "known as one of Capitol Hill's best marksmen."
Walz also emphasized his hunting experience while criticizing JD Vance's views on gun control, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper in July, "I guarantee you he can't shoot pheasants like I can."
He posted a video on social media explaining how to replace a car part.
Tim Walz knows cars.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
In a recently unearthed video from Walz's 2018 gubernatorial campaign shared by the progressive news site Daily Kos, Walz filmed himself sharing a car maintenance tip for fixing a burned-out headlight on a 2014 Ford Edge.
Instead of replacing the entire light, Walz said, the repair could be made with a $7.99 headlight harness from an auto shop.
"Just clip off the back, use some shrink-wrap connectors on there, tape it back together, and put it back in," he said. "It's about a five-minute fix and you're back on the road safe and sound."
Walz ended the instructional video by urging constituents to vote ahead of election day.
He's an avid fan of the Minnesota State Fair and has participated in various activities on the fairgrounds.
Tim Walz carved butter at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair.
Office of Gov. Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
In 2019, Walz put his skills to the test in the Minnesota State Fair's annual butter-carving contest. He sculpted a school bus in honor of the impending start of the academic year.
He also volunteered at the all-you-can-drink milk booth in 2022, MPR News reported.
In 2023, he posted a video of himself and his daughter, Hope, flying through the air on a fair ride known as the Slingshot.
My daughter, Hope, tricked me into doing the most extreme ride at the Minnesota State Fair. pic.twitter.com/YeMEocwJRv
As governor, Walz hosted Minnesota's first "governor's turkey hunting opener" to kick off the wild turkey hunting season in 2019.
Tim Walz, center, during a hunt.
Office of Gov. Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
Walz told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he'd been perfecting his turkey calls to lure the animals out of hiding ahead of the event.
"I've been practicing and it did not make me popular in my home with me turkey calling throughout the house," Walz said. "I think it's working great. My cat runs and my kids leave."
He name-dropped Menards.
Menards.
Talia Lakritz/Business Insider
Menards, a home-improvement chain owned by Wisconsin's richest billionaire, is a premiere Midwestern shopping destination known for its catchy theme song.
On a 2019 episode of "The Wrap" on Twin Cities PBS, Walz was asked, "What is the last thing that you did truly out in the public, truly by yourself?"
He answered: "I went to Menards and bought an air filter for my furnace."
He made a video talking about the pitfalls of potholes in Minnesota roads.
Tim Walz at the Duluth Wastewater Plant.
Office of Gov. Tim Walz & Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan
In 2019, the Office of the Governor of Minnesota posted a YouTube video asking constituents to submit their pothole experiences with the hashtag #MNpotholes to address problems with the state's roads.
"This pothole has already taken 3 tons of fill in the last week as you can see on the side," Walz said while standing at Mile 21 on Highway 47 in Anoka. "When you've got a 50-year-old road, the fill doesn't hold and it continues to deteriorate."
He also encouraged viewers to "talk about the need to invest in transportation to make our streets safer, to make them last longer, to make sure people get home quicker than they would waiting in traffic, stuck behind trains, and running into potholes."
He expressed his love of Runza, a beloved regional fast-food chain located mostly in Nebraska.
Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz.
Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images
In 2022, Walz posted a photo to X showing two of Runza's famous sandwiches, captioned, "Tell me you know a little about Nebraska without telling me you know a little about Nebraska."
Tell me you know a little about Nebraska without telling me you know a little about Nebraska. pic.twitter.com/jMC4AhgZsv
Runza also has stores in Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, and South Dakota, but most are located in Nebraska, where Walz was born and raised.
Walz moved to Minnesota after marrying his wife, Gwen Walz, who grew up there. The two met while they were both working as teachers at a public school in Alliance, Nebraska.
Walz was the first to call Donald Trump and JD Vance "weird," a pithy insult that caught on in the Democratic party.
Tim Walz coined the "weird" insult to describe his Republican opponents.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
In an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in July, Walz coined a new way of speaking about Trump and Vance by calling them "weird." The down-to-earth insult caught on as the Harris campaign and other Democratic leaders repeated the talking point in other media appearances and campaign events.
Walz told CNN's Jake Tapper that the Democratic party's messaging of Trump as an existential threat to democracy is valid and real, but that it also "gives him way too much power."
"Listen to the guy," Walz said. "He's talking about Hannibal Lecter and shocking sharks and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind, and I thought we just give him way too much credit."
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