Michelle Griffiths Minnesota Reformers
Jen Magers, a resident of Nicollet, about 20 miles northwest of Mankato, plans to vote in November for the first time in decades at the urging of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“When I think about what he’s done, I think, ‘Yeah, I’m going to vote for this,'” Magers said, sitting outside Coffee Hug in downtown Mankato, citing free school lunches and marijuana legalization. “For the first time in 20 years, I’m going to stand up and vote.”
Election of Vice President Kamala Harris Waltz will be her running mate. The case has infuriated many Minnesotans, especially those who live in Mankato, the southern city where the two-term governor moved in 1996 to work as a geography teacher and defensive coach for the Mankato West High School football team.
Walz moved with his family to St. Paul after being elected governor in 2018, but he still makes trips to Mankato to connect with colleagues and those he served with for 12 years. The city of 45,000 sits on the Minnesota River and is home to the Minnesota State University campus, a revamped downtown full of brownbrick women’s clothing boutiques, ice cream shops, tattoo parlors and crystal stores.
Reformers spoke to Waltz’s fellow teachers and Mankato residents, many of whom “Cheerful” personality The things Harris is said to respect are well known to them.
Though the governor hasn’t lived in Mankato for about six years, Minnesotans who know Walz, or even those who’ve only heard of his name, are heartened by the knowledge that someone they have a connection to, no matter how far away, may soon be close to the White House.
Mr. Waltz remains his “favorite son,” said Bob Illig, former social studies department chair at Mankato West High School, who taught with Mr. Waltz for 10 years. “He was a down-to-earth guy, and even when he was a congressman, he was a very regular guy. There was no pretense about his position.”
Harris’ campaign is hoping Walz’s popular support will extend beyond Mankato and Minnesota’s borders and garner support from white, non-college-educated voters in many of the battleground states that will be crucial to winning the November election.
“From one official to another”
Gwen and Tim Waltz were recruited together at Mankato West High School, Tim Waltz as geography teacher and Gwen Waltz as English teacher.
Illig interviewed Waltz for the position and was drawn to Waltz’s passion and experience leading Nebraska students on annual trips to China, an endeavor Waltz wanted to continue in Mankato.
Waltz had a gift for connecting with students as a teacher, Illig said, because as a relatively young teacher and well-known football coach he was able to relate to students.
“He wasn’t a traditional lecturer, he wasn’t a sage on stage, but more like a guide who was right there with the audience,” Illig said.
In 1999, Waltz agreed to become faculty adviser to the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance.
“What we really needed was a football coach who was a soldier, who was straight, who was married,” Waltz said. Star Tribune.
Tania Lyon, a longtime neighbor of the Waltzes and a fellow teacher in Mankato, said Waltz was a dynamic mentor who got to know his students personally.
Mr. Walz continued to influence Ms. Lyon’s life even after he was elected to Congress in 2006. When her son was elected student body president in the fifth grade, Ms. Lyon said, Mr. Walz sent him a congratulatory letter, which included a greeting “from elected official to elected official.”
“That’s something that has impacted (my son’s) life … that’s who Tim is,” Lyon said.
Mankato’s troubled history
Just as Waltz left his mark on Mankato, the city also appears to have influenced his understanding of American history.
Mankato was the site of the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. Thirty-eight Dakota men were hanged in Mankato on December 26, 1862, by order of President Abraham Lincoln. The men were hanged for their roles in the American-Dakota War, but historians today say they were executed for the same reasons. Their execution was lawful.
In 2020, Walz apologized for the atrocity.
“On behalf of the people of Minnesota, and as Governor, I express my deepest condolences for what happened here, and I am deeply sorry for what happened to the Dakota Nation,” Gov. Walz said. In a statement.
At the time, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibway, said Minnesotans could learn from the government’s failures.
“While we cannot undo more than 150 years of trauma inflicted on Indigenous people at the hands of the provincial government, we can make every effort to ensure Indigenous people are seen, heard and valued today,” Mr Flanagan said.
If Walz is elected vice president, Flanagan would become the first Native American governor in the United States and the first woman to serve as governor of Minnesota.
Mankato — A hilly DFL island in a sea of red
The city is filled with lush green elm trees and winding roads that wind up and down steep hills and cliffs. Despite its small-town charm, Mankato has enough big-box stores, including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Scheels and Target, to make it a popular shopping destination for Minnesotans from surrounding towns.
Blue Earth County, which includes Mankato, voted for President Joe Biden by about four percentage points in 2020. Mankato is both a growing city and a blue island, thanks to Mankato State University and other universities. Just outside the city lies deep red countryside, with flat farmland, vegetable patches and livestock farms stretching to the horizon.
You don’t have to go far from Mankato to find Minnesotans who oppose Walz.
Rep. Brian Farr (R-Le Sueur) expressed surprise at Ms. Harris’ choice and questioned whether Mr. Walz would appeal to the middle class.
“I’ve called him a political chameleon for years. He changes color depending on who he’s trying to support or who’s in front of him at the time,” Farr said.
Pharr served alongside Waltz in the National Guard for many years, including when they deployed overseas – Pharr in Germany and Waltz in Italy. After 24 years in the National Guard, Waltz retired in 2005 with the rank of master sergeant, the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to have served in the U.S. Congress.
Farr said he respected Walz as a mentor at the time and the two were good friends, but that their politics are now very different.
“He’s changed politically, which makes you think he cares more about popularity than principles. The decisions he makes now and the things he’s done are to appease his supporters and principles have been left behind,” Farr said.
Farr was referring to the only clear issue on which Walz has changed his mind: gun control. After serving a decade in Congress as a strong supporter of the NRA, Walz supported an assault weapons ban after the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre and signed several major gun control bills as governor.
But despite representing a conservative-leaning district, Walz was an early supporter of same-sex marriage rights before they were widely adopted. He voted for Obamacare and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the signature economic policy of President Obama’s first term. He also voted for a key climate change bill that failed to pass in 2009.
As governor, Walz supported progressive legislation passed by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislative majority.
Launch an attack
Wesley Nelson, a barista at a downtown Mankato coffee shop, is pleased that Walz has made progress on gun control. He said he “loves” Walz and supports his actions to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Nelson also appreciated that Walz has “paid his dues” to Mankato and regularly returns to his home city.
“It’s good to have a candidate who doesn’t forget the past,” Nelson said.
In the days since joining the Harris campaign, Walz has delivered a string of viral one-liners that drew cheers at his first campaign rally with Harris in Pennsylvania.
“As President, (Donald Trump) floundered in the face of the COVID-19 crisis and crashed our economy,” Walz said during the rally, and later on Twitter. “Violent crime has increased under President Trump, and that doesn’t even take into account the crimes he committed.”
For Maggers, a Nicollet resident, it was Waltz’s upbeat attitude that inspired her to vote for the first time in decades. Before Waltz was announced as Ms. Harris’ running mate, Maggers, who describes herself as a moderate, said she would never have noticed Waltz’s photo. But Maggers has a passionate dislike for Trump, and she said Waltz inspired her to do something about it.
“When I heard about Walz and the possibility of Minnesota flipping to the Republican Party, I thought, ‘No, that’s not going to happen,’ so I’m actually going to get up and go vote,” she said.
Minnesota Reformers is part of The States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public benefit organization. The Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. If you have questions, please contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican at info@minnesotareformer.com. Follow the Minnesota Reformer Facebook and X.
