Tim Walz

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Tim Walz
Tim Walz
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 4, 2007–
Preceded by Gil Gutknecht
Succeeded by Incumbent
Born April 06, 1964 (age 42)
West Point, Nebraska
Political party Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse Gwen (Whipple) Walz
Religion Lutheran (raised Catholic)[1]

Timothy J. Walz (born April 6, 1964) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Walz is the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 1st congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota. He is currently serving in the freshman class of the 110th United States Congress.

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Walz is the son of a public school administrator and community activist and was raised in a rural community in West Point, Nebraska. He graduated from Butte High School in a class of 25 before earning a Bachelor's of Science degree in social science education from Chadron State College. Walz's first teaching experience was at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 1989, he earned the title of Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the Year as a member of the Army National Guard. Walz then accepted a teaching position through Harvard University, teaching in the People's Republic of China.[2]

After serving 24 years and attaining the rank of Command Sergeant Major in the National Guard, most recently deployed to Italy with his unit as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Walz retired and began teaching again as a geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West Senior High School.[2] He and his wife Gwen ran Educational Travel Adventures, through which he accompanied high school juniors and seniors on educational trips to China each summer. He has a 6-year-old daughter and an infant son.[3]

Walz serves on the House Agriculture Committee,[4] Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is vice president of the Democratic freshman class.[5] He is 432nd in seniority in the congress, due to his lack of prior elective office experience.[3] Along with fellow Minnesota freshman Democrat, Keith Ellison, Walz opposed President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq.[6] In his first week as a legislator, Walz co-sponsored a bill to raise the minimum wage, voted for stem cell research, voted to allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices, and voiced support for pay-as-you-go budget rules, requiring that tax cuts and spending increases be offset by tax increases or spending cuts.[7]

Walz was inspired to run for office in part by an occurrence at a 2004 rally for George W. Bush at a Mankato quarry, "where he and two students were removed due to a John Kerry sticker on one of the students' wallets".[8] Walz had no opponent in the race for the DFL nomination for the seat in the September 12, 2006 primary election. He beat incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht in the general election on November 7, and took office on January 4, 2007. In his victory speech, Walz said, "they should've let us into the quarry."[9] Congressman Walz is believed to be the highest ranking graduate of Wellstone Action's Camp Wellstone.[10]

Walz is the highest-ranking enlisted man ever to serve in Congress.

  • 2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 1st District

  1. ^ Mr. Timothy J. Walz (MN). Background Information. Project Vote Smart (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-16.
  2. ^ a b Tim Walz for US Congress. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
  3. ^ a b Felker, Ed (2007-01-05). Walz pledges new direction in capital. Post-Bulletin Company, LLC. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
  4. ^ Walz, Ellison, get first committee assignments. StarTribune.com (2007-01-08). Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
  5. ^ Felker, Edward (2007-01-11). Walz named VP of freshmen Democrats. Post-Bulletin Company, LLC. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
  6. ^ Diaz, Kevin (2007-01-08). Minnesota delegation offers cool response. Star Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
  7. ^ Fischenich, Mark (2007-01-07). Walz eager to dig into legislative issues. Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
  8. ^ Ed Felker. Walz stays mum on choice for No. 2 House leader. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
  9. ^ Tim Walz' Victory Speech. Minnesota Public Radio (2006-11-6). Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
  10. ^ Horrigan, Marie (2006-10-17). Minn. Roundup: Walz a Legit Barrier to Gutknecht in 1st District. CQPolitics.com. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.

Articles


Political offices
Preceded by
Gil Gutknecht		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 1st congressional district
2007 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent


Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators: Norm Coleman (R), Amy Klobuchar (DFL)

Representative(s): Tim Walz (DFL), John Kline (R), Jim Ramstad (R), Betty McCollum (DFL), Keith Ellison (DFL), Michele Bachmann (R), Collin Peterson (DFL), Jim Oberstar (DFL)

All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/i/m/Tim_Walz_18d3.html"
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