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Meet the family of Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ VP pick

August 6, 20240
Tim Walz and Kamala Harris have had a working relationship over the years.

STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP/Getty Images

Before Walz ran for Congress, where he served from 2007 to 2019, he was a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School from 1996 to 2006. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported he also served as the faculty advisor for his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

Walz also served in the National Guard for 24 years. He enlisted in 1981 and retired as a master sergeant in 2005.

Walz is one of four siblings. His brother, Craig, died during a storm in 2016.
Tim and Gwen Walz have been married for 30 years.

Cliff Owen/AP

After graduating from Chadron State College, Walz worked in China for a year with WorldTeach, a non-profit organization that places volunteers around the world to teach English and other subjects.

Upon his return, he began teaching in Nebraska, his home state, where he met Gwen.

They married in 1994 and moved to Minnesota, Gwen’s home state, two years later.
From left to right, Gwen, Tim, Gus, and Hope Walz at a 2018 primary event. He’d go on to win the gubernatorial election.

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Walz frequently posts on social media about his kids.

Gwen joined Instagram the same day her husband was announced as Harris’ running mate, and she has since posted just one photo: a shot of her husband and their kids.

The Walz family also has a rescue dog, Scout, and a rescue cat, Honey.

Walz has been open about how he and his wife used IVF to conceive their children after seven years of fertility treatments.
Walz and his daughter, Hope, have a close relationship.

Abbie Parr/AP

“It’s not by chance that we named our daughter Hope,” Walz told the Star Tribune, referencing the yearslong fertility struggles he and his wife went through.

In September 2023, Walz posted on Instagram to celebrate National Daughter’s Day. “I have the best daughter a dad could possibly ask for. Happy National Daughter’s Day,” he wrote.

Newsweek reported Hope attended the University of Minnesota.

Gus, born in 2006, is 17 years old.
Tim Walz and his son, Gus, in 2018.

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Walz also posts about his son, who turns 18 in October. Last October, he posted in celebration of Gus passing his road test to get his driver’s license.

“My son Gus just passed his (what do you call it? A drivers license exam?). Proud dad moment,” he wrote.