Tim Walz has been the governor of Minnesota since 2018.
Kamala Harris announced governor of Minnesota Tim Walz as her running mate.
Walz was surrounded by cameras and well-wishers at his home in Minneapolis Tuesday as the news came out. Within minutes he was whisked away in a motorcade to begin campaigning.
"The biggest challenge for Governor Walz is the fact that nobody really knows who he is. He is not someone who has a name people recognize," CBS senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang tells Inside Edition.
The 60-year-old governor was born in Nebraska and enlisted in the National Guard at the age of 17 before becoming a high school social studies teacher and football coach in Mankato, Minnesota.
Walz was arrested in 1995 for DUI and speeding. The charges were reduced to one count of reckless driving. Afterward, he reportedly quit drinking alcohol.
Walz was elected to Congress in 2006 and served for 12 years. He has been the governor of Minnesota since 2018.
In 2016, Walz's younger brother Craig was killed when a tree fell on him during a lightning storm.
The governor's wife of 30 years, Gwen, is also a teacher. They have two kids, 17-year-old Gus and 23-year-old Hope.
Walz gained attention recently for his comments about Donald Trump and JD Vance. "These guys are just weird. That's who they are," he said.
"He was the first one to call the Republicans weird, to make note of some of the things they were saying and we saw many people following suit, including Vice President Harris," Jiang says.
Vance spoke out about Walz's statement Tuesday. "Tim Walz's record is a joke. He's been one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level."
Donald Trump is reportedly happy that Harris chose Walz. He posted, "Thank you," on social media shortly after the running mate announcement.
