Gov. Tim Walz to attend Mankato high school football game, Pheasant Opener

Gov. Tim Walz will be back in Minnesota this weekend to attend the annual Mankato East-Mankato West high school football game and participate in the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener in Sleepy Eye.

It’s been 25 years since Mankato West won a state championship with Walz serving as an assistant coach. The DFL governor and vice presidential candidate will cheer on the Scarlets on Friday night and give the team a pep talk before the game, the Harris-Walz campaign said.

On Saturday, Walz will go out for an early hunt in Sleepy Eye to mark the start of the pheasant season. He’ll be joined by a group of outdoors-focused internet influencers. The governor is expected to discuss the importance of conservation, hunting, Second Amendment rights and gun safety, the campaign said.

Since choosing him as her running mate, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has touted Walz’s background as a football coach, hunter and gun owner in an attempt to appeal to male and Midwestern voters.

A Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota poll conducted in September found that men preferred the Trump-Vance ticket over Harris-Walz by a 53%-37% margin. Women backed Harris-Walz over Trump-Vance 59% to 35%.

The Harris campaign is deploying Walz on a new push to reach male voters in swing states. He will travel to Michigan on Friday before the Mankato game to give remarks about investing in manufacturing and for a political engagement with Black male voters.

The governor will also have interviews with local TV anchors from the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to discuss high school football and hunting.

Walz just taped an interview with former NFL star and “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan that will air Friday, according to the campaign. He’s expected to discuss his time as a high school football coach and how it influenced his approach to public service. He’ll be joined by some of his former Mankato West students for part of the interview, which was recorded at the University of Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium.

The campaign is also expected to release unseen footage from the 1999 Mankato West championship game on Walz’s social media channels, along with interviews of former students and players.

Rumors of a possible Walz appearance at Friday’s Mankato East-Mankato West game had swirled in the days before it was announced. In a post on X on Wednesday, former GOP state Rep. Jeremy Munson urged people to show up and boo Walz.

“Rumor has it that Tim Walz will be at our local high school football game (Mankato East vs. West) this Friday, October 11th, at 7 PM at MSU Mankato. It would be a shame if attendees booed him on his home turf this Friday, October 11th, at 7 PM at MSU Mankato,” Munson wrote. “Have I asked what you’re doing this Friday, October 11th, at 7 PM at MSU Mankato?”