Crowd gathers outside Gov. Tim Walz’s St. Paul residence, mulls his elevation to VP candidate

Dozens of neighbors and others swarmed outside of Gov. Tim Walz’s temporary St. Paul residence on Tuesday morning, stunned and thrilled to see the Minnesota Democrat suddenly elevated to the presidential ticket.

“We are just ecstatic for him and think he’s the perfect person for the job and just what this country needs,” said Claire Stepanek, 32, who lives near Eastcliff mansion on East River Road. Walz and his family are living in the University of Minnesota-owned property while the governor’s residence in St. Paul undergoes renovation.

The crowd grew to about 50 people by midmorning, as neighbors and journalists alike tried to catch a glimpse of Walz or his family. At one point, several black SUVS were seen entering and leaving the gated driveway. Walz was scheduled to make his first appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday afternoon at a rally in Philadelphia. The crowd included around a dozen bike riders, and one man on a “tall bike.”

A group of eight shirtless members of University of St. Thomas’ cross-country team stopped outside the mansion after noticing the commotion. Max Westerlund, a 19-year-old student, said he “doesn’t understand” the Walz selection and said he thinks Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear would have been a better selection since he’s been elected in a deeply Republican state.

“Having Walz as a VP is not going to get any voters in Minnesota to change, and it’s not a battleground state,” Westerlund said.

Neighbors spoke highly of Walz personally, saying he has been friendly and invited many of them over for a Halloween party last fall.

Alice Rogers, 14, was observing the house with her 9-year-old sister and their nanny. Rogers said Walz seemed like a “people person” at the Halloween party and that she believes he will be “good for everyone” if elected vice president.

“It was pretty fun. He had a flannel shirt on and was just saying hi to everybody,” Rogers said. “He was telling my parents about how he and his son had practiced parallel parking in our driveway.”

Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, often say hello from over the fence, several neighbors said. Stepanek said the governor has invited her over so that her dog, Butter, could play with Walz’s dog, Scout.

While comments were mostly supportive, some were thinking about political considerations. Emily Martin, who lives down the street, said she supports the selection of Walz. But she said she wishes he’d give a stronger response in support of Palestinians and issued a statement calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Walz said in a March interview with Minnesota Public Radio that he supports a cease-fire.

“Overall he’s done a good job, but there are certain aspects that haven’t really been up to a lot of people’s standards,” Martin said.