Walz met his future wife, Gwen Whipple, a native Minnesotan, while they were both high school teachers in temporary classrooms. Gwen recalled being annoyed by his loud voice disrupting her class.
Shortly after they met, Gwen and Tim organized an annual summer trip to China for their students and continued to travel there nearly every summer until 2003.
Tim Walz achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major before retiring from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005 after serving for 24 years.
He was the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress and only the fourth member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer-Labor Party to represent his district.
He loves spending time restoring his classic blue International Harvester Scout, a four-wheel-drive icon from the 1970s. The beloved off-road vehicle was a precursor to the compact SUVs we have today. Due to its historical significance and rugged charm, the 1979 International Harvester Scout has become a sought-after collectible by many automobile enthusiasts.
Walz shared this cute photo of the vintage beauty, along with his cute pup—also named Scout!
Walz’s father worked as a teacher and school administrator. After his father died of lung cancer, his family moved to Butte, Nebraska, to be closer to family.
Walz stated that this life-altering experience shaped his views on healthcare access: “The last week of my dad’s life cost my mom a decade of going back to work to pay off hospital debt.”
He and his wife have two children, Hope and Gus, both conceived through IVF. “It's not by chance we named our daughter Hope," Walz shared about their IVF journey.
Tim and his wife had undergone fertility treatment for seven years before the birth of their children in 2001 and 2006. All the "childless cat ladies" around the country who face infertility struggles can see the new VP pick and his family as a symbol of hope now, too.
In 2023, Tim Walz instituted free meals for all public school children in Minnesota, making it one of 10 Democratic-run states to do so. Republican politicians have widely opposed these measures, but Minnesotans don't seem to be complaining about their kids' full bellies.
“What a monster!" Walz joked in an interview with CNN in July when asked about the criticism from the right. "Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own healthcare decisions."
Walz was re-elected five times in southern Minnesota’s predominantly rural and conservative 1st District, serving in the House for 12 years. In 2017, he was named the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
During his tenure, he focused on issues such as veterans' mental health, suicide prevention, and pain management. He advocated for funding research on medical cannabis treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. Walz also has a history of bipartisan collaboration; over half of the bills he co-sponsored between 2015 and 2017 were introduced by non-Democrats.
Walz, who was previously awarded an "A" rating and endorsement from the National Rifle Association, was listed among the top 20 politicians for gun owners by Guns & Ammo magazine in 2016. However, he later condemned the NRA and backed gun-control initiatives, including an assault weapons ban. By the time he ran for governor in 2018, the NRA had significantly downgraded his rating.
Shortly after the deadly Las Vegas shooting in 2017, which resulted in 59 fatalities, he donated his NRA campaign contributions to a nonprofit supporting the families of military members who died or were severely wounded while serving. When addressing his change of stance, he said, “I had an A rating from the NRA. Now I get straight F’s. And I sleep just fine.”
Walz finds Republican politicians like Donald Trump and JD Vance to be "weird"; however, he reassured network news viewers that this judgment does not extend to voters.
Walz clarified, “And ‘weird’ is specific to him. I’m certainly not talking about Republicans. I’m not talking about the people who are at those rallies. I’m hearing this from my Republican friends, because the people at those rallies, they’re the ones that can most benefit from the message we’re delivering.”
In 1995, Walz was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Nebraska. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving, and his license was suspended for 90 days.
This incident prompted him to quit drinking alcohol. Today, his preferred beverage is Diet Mountain Dew.
