On Tuesday, the United States was introduced to a new political family when Vice President Kamala Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walls as her running mate.
Although Gwen Walls, the two-term governor’s wife, is not officially on the ticket, her background is also drawing attention.
An educator and lifelong Minnesotan for more than two decades, Mrs. Walls was the agenda-setter during her husband’s time in office.
He prioritized education and criminal justice reforms, efforts that saw traction in Washington with the Harris-Wallace White House.
Ms. Walls, 58, met the Minnesota governor when both taught in Nebraska.
They married in 1994 and have two children, Hope and Gus.
Mr Walls has previously spoken about the couple’s infertility struggles and how they used IVF to conceive.
Although Mr. Walls has built a social media presence for himself during his tenure as governor, Mrs. Walls appears to have taken a less public role.
He only created an Instagram account in recent days. She also participated in some media interviews as First Lady of Minnesota.
When he does speak publicly, however, it’s mostly about education, criminal justice reform, and how the two intersect.
“Education is transformative. I believe in every sense of that word,” Ms Walz said during a 2019 interview with PBS. “If we’re going to solve problems, we have to look at real ways to solve problems. And the real predictor of staying out of prison is education.”
Her first public event as First Lady of Minnesota was a rally to restore the voting rights of convicted felons.
Ms. Walls also chaired a task force on recidivism and toured state prisons.
“This is an important conversation,” Ms. Walls said in a 2019 interview with Minnesota Public Radio.
She reportedly advises her husband and is the wife of the first Minnesota governor to hold office in the state capital.
Since entering national politics this week, he has been drawing criticism from the right for comments he made during Minneapolis’ 2020 racial justice march following the death of George Floyd.
In a clip that has now gone viral, Ms Walz described the smell of burning tires and said she kept the window open as long as she could “because I realized what was happening”.
Republicans are using the clip to make Ms. Walls and her husband appear too far left to voters.
