Who is Gwen Walz? A mom, a teacher and an adviser to her husband

Months ago, Gwen Walz agreed to speak to a hotel ballroom full of school administrators on a Tuesday morning in August. Turns out that Tuesday morning would be the day her husband Gov. Tim Walz would be announced as the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate.

Given the headlines, Deb Henton, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, wasn’t sure Gwen Walz would make it.

But by 8:20 a.m., as the room buzzed with news of Kamala Harris’ running mate, the longtime teacher, educator and administrator took the stage to a standing ovation.

“She fit it into her schedule,” Henton said. “It was very tight, but she fit it in.”

The fact that she showed up says a lot about Gwen Walz’s leadership, Henton continued. So did her speech, which hit on a familiar theme for Minnesota’s first lady: ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive, reaching their potential, according to Henton.

More than many of the state’s recent first ladies, Gwen Walz has taken an active role in shaping policy, especially on the topics of education, criminal justice reform and the intersection of the two: offering college courses to those in prison. Walz not only has her husband’s ear — she has her own office at the Capitol.

Those who know Gwen Walz, 58, note her political instincts, which emerged as a young person growing up in Ivanhoe, Minn., according to her father, Val Whipple. But they also emphasize that the issues she’s chosen to champion, as well as her approach to them, seem rooted in care and common sense.

“I am very much not in the business of politics or prognostication,” said Max Kenner, founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, a college-in-prison organization with bipartisan support that is close to Walz’s heart. “But I will say that Tim and Gwen ... I don’t think of them as progressives. I see them as people really motivated by common decency and a sense of generosity toward others.”

Kenner is excited about the possibility that the pair could bring that approach to the national stage. “All of us who worked closely with Gwen at that time were struck by how she sought out doing policy work and education work in a really genuine, human way. And that takes effort, and that takes skill, and she seemed to have both.”

After Tim was named Kamala Harris’ running mate, the national spotlight also turned on Gwen, who is at the Democratic National Convention this week and, like her husband, a longtime teacher. She also is a seasoned congressional spouse, experienced speaker and mother of two — Hope, 23, and Gus, 17.

Gwen Whipple grew up with three sisters in Ivanhoe (pop. 550), about three hours west of the Twin Cities. Her parents were teachers: Her mother taught physical education and biology; her father taught social studies and coached high school basketball. Later, her father took over his father’s insurance agency.

At Gustavus Adolphus College, a Lutheran college in St. Peter, Minn., Gwen played piano and “seemed to have a knack for politics,” Whipple said by phone Tuesday, as CNN’s reporting on his son-in-law blared in the background.

While teaching English in small-town Nebraska, Gwen met Tim Walz, a teacher at the same school. On their first date, they saw the Michael Douglas movie “Falling Down” and dined at Hardee’s, the only restaurant in town that wasn’t a bar, according to a 2019 Star Tribune profile.

When Tim leaned in for a kiss, she declined. His reply: “That’s fine, but you should know I’m going to marry you.”

The two wed in 1994. They moved to Minnesota and worked for Mankato Area Public Schools, where Tim taught social studies and coached football and Gwen served as an administrator and coordinator. After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Tim Walz ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. “He took a leave of absence from teaching,” Whipple recalled. “Maxed out his credit card.”

He won the staunchly Republican district in 2006, three weeks after their son Gus was born.

In those early days, Tim Walz would give a speech, and Gwen Walz would offer her suggestions, her father said.

“I think she’s the perfect political wife,” Whipple said. “She can give input; she has the same values; she’s interested in improving America. And she’s very supportive of Tim.”

When her husband became governor, Gwen Walz established her own office in the Capitol, something none of Minnesota’s other first ladies had done.

As first lady, Walz gave her first major speech at a rally supporting restoring voting rights for felons.

Gwen Walz’s high visibility in advocating for criminal justice reform has exposed her to some political risk that other first ladies have avoided by taking up less controversial issues. Walz drew unwelcome attention in 2019, when she was promoting a PBS documentary about the Bard Prison Initiative at TPT’s headquarters in St. Paul.

At a panel discussion, the moderator’s pointed questions about racial disparities in the criminal justice system led some attendees to feel that the panelists, including Walz, seemed unprepared to discuss the topic, according to a Minnesota Public Radio report. The uncomfortable exchange led to the governor’s aides to press the hosting public television station to delete the footage. A Walz administration spokesperson later expressed regret for the “overreaction.”

That same year, Augsburg University President Paul Pribbenow recruited Gwen Walz as a special assistant for strategic partnerships. There, she has helped implement an all-you-can-ride transit pass for students, served on an advisory board for the Minnesota Urban Debate League and guided the Minneapolis-based university with its work in Washington, D.C.

“She shows up and does her homework,” said Pribbenow, who has been with Augsburg for 19 years. “She’s often ahead of me on a particular topic — she will have gone in and done a deep dive.”

When Tim Walz was first elected as governor, Gwen “fought off the first lady moniker,” Pribbenow said. “She and my wife would have coffee and talk about that: How do you carve out a role for yourself that honors your own gifts and what you bring, even if the external perspectives are that you fill a stereotypical role?”

Former Minnesota first lady Mary Pawlenty, wife of Walz’s Republican predecessor, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, praised Gwen for putting her personal stamp on the role. “A governor’s spouse needs to create his or her own path. She has done exactly that.” Pawlenty called Gwen Walz “a thoughtful, grounded woman who will undoubtedly fare quite well in the chaotic weeks ahead.”

Augsburg’s Pribbenow has heard Gwen introduce Tim on several occasions, sometimes talking longer than him, spinning a good story. One story he’s heard again and again is about Gwen Walz’s mother, Linnea, who attended a one-room schoolhouse before becoming the first in her family to graduate from high school.

Linn Whipple ended up on a bus to Augsburg, a journey that shaped her life and the lives of her children.

“I think they’re very authentic people,” Pribbenow said, “both of them. I hope that she maintains that, wherever she ends up.” And, he added, everything he’s seen suggests they will.

Gov. Walz appeared with Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, along with Gwen.

“I can’t wait for all of you, and America, to meet my incredible wife, Gwen, a 29-year-public school educator,” he said from the podium. Then he added, “Don’t ever underestimate teachers!”