Live updates: ‘Coach Walz’ takes the DNC stage with the pep talk of his lifetime

Minnesota is stepping into the spotlight at day three of the Democratic National Convention, with a speech from Sen. Amy Klobuchar and a keynote address from Gov. Tim Walz. We’ll be tracking Minnesota callouts and highlights at in tonight’s convention, which Democrats are dubbing “Walz Wednesday.”

Tonight was Walz’s most high-profile opportunity yet to introduce himself to the country as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. He told his life story and highlighted the two recent Minnesota legislative sessions, including Democrat achievements like free meals for all school children and protections for legal abortions and transgender health care. He was preceded by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former students, Former President Bill Clinton and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

After a video introduction voiced by his wife, Gwen, Walz entered to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” and was met by cheers of “coach, coach, coach,” from the crowd. His coaching experience came out to play.

Walz quickly accepted the vice presidential nomination, calling it the “honor of his life.” As expected, Walz stressed his background as a teacher, connecting his experiences in public education to critiques of former President Donald Trump.

With a “Go Scarlets,” cheer, Walz retold his journey to a political career and the Mankato West students who inspired him.

“There I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, no political experience and no money running in a deep-red district,” he said. “But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher.”

Prescription drug prices, medical debt and affordable housing were key policy points for Walz. He boasted Minnesota legislative achievements, like cutting taxes for the middle class, paid family and medical leave and, again, free school lunches.

“When other states were banning books from schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” Walz said.

Walz warned voters about conservative Project 2025 policy proposals, based on his coaching experience. “When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it,” he said.

He echoed the Minnesota “golden rule” frequently repeated on the Harris campaign trail, “mind your own damn business.”

Walz acknowledged the magnitude of the speech, and his relative lack of experience on the national stage. So he would finish it like a football coach, he said.

“Let me finish with this, team: It’s the fourth quarter, we’re down a field goal but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball.”

“You’ll have time to sleep when you’re dead. We’ve got to leave it all on the field.”

Walz and his family closed the night on stage to “Rockin’ in the Free World,” by Neil Young.

“Tim Walz is the kind of guy you can count on to push you out of a snow bank,” Ben Ingman said, former next-door neighbor and student of Walz. “We always wish people like that run for office. In my neighborhood, someone like that did.”

Ingram said Walz took on the additional role of seventh-grade track coach to make a little extra money, allowing him and his wife, Gwen, to help pay off the debt of a student who could not pay for his school lunches.

Ingman also brought out former Mankato West football players and former head coach Rick Sutton — all played on by the school fight song and donning jerseys.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar delivered an enthusiastic Minnesota introduction to Gov. Tim Walz, after a Prince tribute performance from musicians John Legend and Sheila E.

“In Minnesota, we trust a coach that turned a team into state champions,” Klobuchar said. “I know we aren’t alone, but in Minnesota we love a dad in plaid.”

Klobuchar joined the chorus of Democrats highlighting Walz’s legislative track record, including “the biggest tax break Minnesota has ever seen.”

Klobuchar followed the path of the Mississippi River through several states, meeting cheers from each delegation, and encouraged voters to, “cross the river of our divides.”

Two veterans spoke on Walz’s record of military service and his work to pass the “Forever GI” bill.

Mike McLaughlin, an Iraq war veteran, said he met Walz when he was beginning the transition out of the Marine Corps and using the GI bill to go back to school. Working with Walz was straightforward, he said, “there’s no excuse making, there’s no scapegoating.”

Sgt Al Bonnifield served with Governor Walz in the National Guard.

“When Gov. Walz wants change to happen, it will happen,” he said.

After Oprah Winfrey’s address to the DNC, five of Walz’s former Mankato students spoke about how he changed their lives. Mankato West High School graduates highlighted Walz as a mentor, particularly for his roles as a coach and faculty advisor for the school’s Gay Straight Alliance.

The video featured Nate Hood (2002 graduate), Sarah Manes (1999), Josh Jagdfeld (2001), Jacob Reitan (2000), Kent Wawrzynaik (1998), and Blake Frink (2001).

“When he would start teaching, it was like full contact teaching,” Frink said. “Mr. Walz was a really big part of building this community, and he was a big reason why I became a teacher myself.”

Former President Bill Clinton highlighted Walz’s career as a position, and said Harris, “knocked it out of the park,” when selecting Walz as her running mate.

After listing various political accomplishments of Walz, Clinton highlighted his record on gun control legislation.

“By all accounts, he was a crack shot who had the courage among his rural constituents to say: We do not need these assault weapons available to people who can kill our kids in schools,” Clinton said.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison delivered an enthusiastic endorsement of Walz and Harris, highlighting support he received from both in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

“Tim Walz felt the exact same way I did,” Ellison said, recalling a call from Walz, minutes after he first saw the video of officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9½ minutes.

Walz turned the prosecution of Chauvin over to Ellison from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in June 2020, after urges from Floyd’s family. Minutes after the guilty verdict came down in the Chauvin case, Ellison said Harris called to congratulate him and his team.

“Kamala and Tim, they understand the legacy of George Floyd,” Ellison said. “No one is above the law, and no one is beneath it.”

Ellison also highlighted Walz’s policy achievements in Minnesota, boasting the state’s voter turnout and status as “one of the best places to live in, to raise a family, to do business.”

Minnesota singer and St. Louis Park High School math teacher Jess Davis sang the national anthem at tonight’s convention. Students from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School in St. Paul recited the pledge of allegiance in a video ahead of Davis’ performance.

Davis was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2019, largely for her work in equity and diversity policies. Davis grew up in the St. Cloud area, where she was one of only a few students of color in a high school class of 500. She is still working as a math teacher, and was recently the high school’s Equity Development Coordinator.

“My motto has been the student hashtag, ‘Every voice matters,’” Davis said in a 2019 interview. “We’re all capable of so much more than we even realize.”

Throughout the arena, attendees are hoisting, “COACH” posters. Walz is likely to lean into his time as a Mankato West High School educator and football coach in his speech tonight, adjoined by a video featuring five of his former Mankato students.

Some of Walz’s former students will be watching at the Mankato school where he once taught them. The watch party began at 7:30 at the high school to cheer on Walz as he accepts the party’s nomination for vice president.