Tim Walz served six terms in the U.S. Congress representing the southern part of Minnesota that runs from South Dakota to Wisconsin. He was born in West Point, Nebraska, in 1964. He enlisted in the Army National Guard at age 17 and retired 24 years later.

He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska, and began teaching High School in Nebraska. He married Gwen Whipple in 1994, and they moved to southern Minnesota where both began teaching at Mankato High School, with Tim also coaching the football team. They have two children, both conceived by In Vitro Fertilization.

In 2007 he ran for and won Minnesota’s election for 1st Congressional District. He served six terms in Congress on the Agriculture, Armed Forces, and Veterans’ Affairs Committees.

In 2018 he was elected Governor of Minnesota, and re-elected in 2022. His accomplishments from his time as Governor include providing universal free school meals for students, protecting reproductive freedom, strengthening voting rights, laying the groundwork to get Minnesota to 100% clean electricity by 2040, cutting taxes for the middle class, and expanding paid leave for Minnesota workers.

But let’s hear about him in his own words.

Growing up, I learned to be generous toward my neighbors, compromise without compromising my values, and to work for the common good.

“It is absolutely an economic imperative, and it’s a moral imperative. 47 million without health care insurance is an absolute crime.”

“I’ve seen some of my fellow governors on TV — they find a lot of time to be on TV — and I hear them talking about ‘freedom,’” Walz said. “But it turns out what they really mean is that government should be free to invade your bedroom, your children’s locker room, and your doctor’s office.”

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives.”

“Minnesotans, and I especially amongst them, are not going to stand by and let people keep making this about the Second Amendment when it’s really about our first responsibility — keeping our children safe,” Walz said. “Be very clear: the time for hiding behind thoughts and prayers is long gone. What we need is action and we need it now.”

The budgets we work on in Congress are more than just fiscal documents; they are a reflection of our moral values as well. In choosing where to spend money, members of Congress choose what priorities they value.

Hi. My name is Tim Walz, and I’m running for Congress here in southern Minnesota for several important reasons. But today, I’d like to tell you about one issue that’s very personal to me. I am a retired command sergeant major in the Minnesota National Guard, and after years of firing artillery, I sustained severe inner ear damage. Because I have good health insurance provided through my employer, I was able to have surgery on my ear. As my ear healed, my hearing was gradually restored. One morning, several weeks after the surgery, I awoke to a sound I couldn’t identify. I asked my wife what I was hearing and she told me, Tim, that’s your four-year-old daughter Hope. You see, Hope wakes up singing every morning. But I had never heard that sound until that day. I’m running for Congress because I believe we as a country have a moral obligation to ensure that every father can hear his daughter sing, that every citizen receives the best care our medical community has to offer. I’m Tim Walz, and I approve this message because I’ve heard how important health care is to everyone.

Disparities in our educational system based on geography, race, or economic status pulled back not only our students, but our entire state from reaching its full potential. That’s why we must dedicate ourselves now that we must make Minnesota the education state for all children Black, White, Brown, and Indigenous.

Folks that are standing here across the spectrum, from health providers to activists to children’s advocates to just numerous people who are here who have literally spent decades working on this issue of food insecurity and knowing that there are a lot of pieces to make sure that no one, especially no child, ever goes hungry in Minnesota, a land of bounty, a land of plenty, a land that feeds the world. We are certainly and in just a few moments going to guarantee by law we will feed our children.

Some of us in here are old enough to remember, I see you down there. I see those old white guys. Some of us are old enough to remember. When it was Republicans who were talking about freedom. It turns out now what they meant was the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. In Minnesota we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves. There’s a golden rule. Mind your own damn business.

I make sure that I’m the guy and our folks are investing in prenatal care. We’re the ones that are there for universal pre-K. We’re the ones that are providing school meals at this. I’m not going to back down one bit on this whole family values thing, and the construct that he’s (J.D. Vance) putting out there is absolutely untrue. We’re making it more affordable to have children by having paid family medical leave so that you can go home when your kids are sick and take care of them. Or if you’re a dad, I don’t have to go right back to work five days later, after my wife had a C-section because our insurance wouldn’t pay for it. We’re boosting those things up.

I coached football for enough years, when someone takes the time to draw up a playbook, they plan on using it. (about Project 2025)