Tim Walz loses home county to Trump

MANKATO, Minn. (TNND) — The 2024 presidential election hit close to home for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate lost his home county to President-elect Donald Trump, a crushing blow in an already lackluster night for Democrats.

Trump received 49.6% of the reported vote in Blue Earth County, where Walz’s family lived for 20 years, while Harris earned 48.3%.

The nation met the Minnesota governor in late August during his primetime debut as Harris’s running mate pick on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School,” Walz said during his DNC speech. “It was those players and my students that inspired me to run for Congress.”

Walz gained popularity in Minnesota when he successfully flipped a Republican congressional seat to Democratic in 2006. Blue Earth County was Walz’s launching pad for his 12 years in Congress, representing Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.

Walz, who marketed himself as a moderate, continued his winning streak when he decided to leave the House, winning against his Republican opponent by double digits in Minnesota’s 2018 gubernatorial race.

After his victory, Walz moved his family of four from their small hometown to the governor’s mansion in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the state capital. Soon after the transition, they sold their home in Mankato.

Walz, despite playing an active role in the Harris campaign, faced scrutiny this election season over past misstatements. CNN anchor Dana Bash asked Walz during an August interview about allegations that he lied about being deployed to an active war zone. The controversy prompted the Trump campaign to accuse Walz of violating the Stolen Valor Act.

The Democratic vice presidential nominee said he misspoke, adding that he expressed his emotions openly when he discussed a passionate subject.

Yeah, I said – we were talking about in this case, this was after a school shooting, the ideas of carrying these weapons of war,” Walz told CNN. “[M]y wife, the English teacher, told me my grammar’s not always correct.”

Walz has not made any social media posts or appeared in public since Trump’s historic reelection early Wednesday morning. Harris officials said the vice president is set to address the nation Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. EST.

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