Tim Walz is a dad of 2: What to know about the VP candidate's wife and kids
Walz and his wife Gwen met when they were both public school teachers.
The selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Kamala Harris' vice presidential running mate in the 2024 presidential election put the Midwesterner in the national spotlight.
The spotlight on Walz also extended to his wife and two children, who spent the previous six years as the first family of Minnesota.
Walz was joined by his wife Gwen Walz and their youngest child, 18-year-old Gus, at an elections office in St. Paul on Oct. 23, when the family cast their ballots together early for the Nov. 5 election, which former President Donald Trump would go on to win.
Gus, who just turned 18 in October, cast his ballot for the first time.
Tim and Gwen Walz's older child, daughter Hope, also voted early, but in Montana, where she now lives, Tim Walz said at an Oct. 20 campaign stop in Michigan.
Hope, Gus and Gwen Walz were front and center at the Democratic National Convention in August as Tim Walz delivered his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech.
As Tim Walz gave his speech, Gus was spotted in tears listening to his father speak, while Hope Walz was seen holding up a heart to him.
The Walz family then joined the Democratic vice presidential nominee on stage after he wrapped up his remarks.
Gus and Hope also had some fun in the spotlight when they held up bunny ears behind their dad's head during an interview at the DNC.
The moment went viral on social media, and was acknowledged by Tim Walz himself, who reposted the clip on X and wrote, "My kids keep me humble."
Here are four things to know about Tim Walz's family.
1. Tim and Gwen Walz met as high school teachers
Gwen Walz, whose maiden name is Whipple, is a Minnesotan native whose parents were also educators, according to her official bio.
After graduating from college in Minnesota, Gwen Walz began her teaching career in Nebraska, where she met her future husband.
Gwen Walz was an English teacher in Alliance, Nebraska, at the same school where Tim Walz had begun his career as a teacher and football coach after serving in the Army National Guard, according to the governor's bio.
The couple wed in 1994 and moved to Mankato, Minnesota, where they both continued teaching.
According to Gwen Walz's biography, she and her husband together created a summer trip to China for students and traveled there "nearly every summer" for almost a decade.
2. The Walzes say they struggled with infertility
Tim Walz has said he and his wife went through fertility treatments at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for seven years before becoming pregnant with their first child, a daughter they named Hope, who was born in 2001.
The Democratic vice presidential nominee told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper in March that he still remembers the day Gwen Walz called him in tears with the good news that she was pregnant.
"I said, 'Not again,'" Tim Walz recalled, according to the newspaper. "She said, 'No, I'm pregnant.' It's not by chance that we named our daughter Hope."
In his acceptance speech at the DNC, Tim Walz said of his family, "It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments. And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you."
The Harris campaign highlighted the Walzes' personal experience with infertility in the selection announcement, writing, "Governor Walz and Mrs. Walz struggled with years of fertility challenges and had their daughter, Hope, through reproductive health care like IVF - further cementing his commitment to ensuring all Americans have access to this care."
On Aug. 19, Gwen Walz shared for the first time the specifics of her treatment, which she said was intrauterine insemination, or IUI.
"Like millions of families across the country, for years, Tim and I tried to start a family through fertility treatments. We followed the journey that is infertility -- the anxiety, the agony, and the desperation that can eat away at your soul," Gwen Walz said in comments first given to Glamour, and then shared with ABC News by the Harris Walz campaign.
"Knowing that pain, I cannot fathom the cruelty of politicians who want to take away the freedom for couples to access the care they need. After seeing the extreme attacks on reproductive health care across the country -- particularly, the efforts in Alabama that jeopardized access to fertility treatments -- Tim and I agreed that it was time to formally speak out about our experience," she said.
In IUI, healthy sperm, provided by the woman’s partner or a donor, is, “placed in the uterus as close to the time of ovulation as possible,” according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The discrepancy over the type of infertility treatment Gwen Walz received -- she said she underwent IUI, and not IVF, as was broadly assumed -- quickly became political fodder in the presidential campaign.
Unlike IVF, the procedure does not involve freezing, transferring, or storing embryos.
3. Hope Walz appears on her dad's social media
Hope Walz graduated high school in 2019, according to her dad's Facebook post.
Tim Walz celebrated his daughter's 23rd birthday earlier this year on Jan. 9, sharing a photo on Instagram of Hope Walz posing in front of ski slopes, writing, "Happy Birthday, Hope! 23 runs for 23 years."
Hope Walz is a frequent presence on her dad's social media accounts, including a video on Instagram that Tim Walz reposted last Thanksgiving in which he humorously tries to convince his daughter to eat some turkey.
"I'm vegetarian," Hope Walz says in the video.
Last year, Hope Walz also joined her dad on what he described as the "most extreme ride" at the annual Minnesota State Fair.
In September, Tim Walz celebrated his daughter on National Daughter's Day, writing on Instagram, "I have the best daughter a dad could possibly ask for."
4. Gus Walz has a non-verbal learning disorder, his parents have shared
Gus Walz is a high school student who lives with his mom and dad in St. Paul, the state capital of Minnesota.
The 17-year-old has a non-verbal learning disorder as well as ADHD and an anxiety disorder, conditions that his parents describe as his “secret power.”
Tim and Gwen Walz told People magazine in an Aug. 7 statement that Gus received the diagnoses several years ago.
"When our youngest Gus was growing up, it became increasingly clear that he was different from his classmates. Gus preferred video games and spending more time by himself,” the Walzes told People. “When he was becoming a teenager, we learned that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder in addition to an anxiety disorder and ADHD, conditions that millions of Americans also have."
"Like so many American families, it took us time to figure out how to make sure we did everything we could to make sure Gus would be set up for success as he was growing up," the Walzes continued. "It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”
A non-verbal learning disorder is defined by the American Psychological Association as a type of learning disorder “characterized by limited skills in critical thinking and deficits in processing nonverbal information.”
According to the APA, the disorder can affect how a child learns as well as other areas including emotional functioning and social competencies.
5. The Walzes have a pet cat and dog
Gus Walz is a high school student who lives with his mom and dad in St. Paul, the state capital of Minnesota.
In 2019, the Walz family welcomed a new member to the family, a rescue Labrador mix named Scout, that Gus was credited with bringing into the family fold.
Tim Walz said in an Instagram post that the dog was adopted to fulfill a promise he made to Gus.
"I'm excited to announce that Minnesota has a new First Dog! And more importantly, I fulfilled my commitment to get my son a dog if I was elected Governor," he wrote alongside several photos of Scout and the family.
More recently, in December, the Walzes welcomed another four-legged member of the family, an orange and white rescue cat named Honey.
"Say hello to Honey! The newest member of the Walz family," Tim Walz wrote on X on Dec. 20, 2023. "She's a rescue-pet and already has a few favorite spots: under the tree and right on top of whatever I'm trying to read."
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to reflect Gwen Walz’s comments first given to Glamour on her infertility treatments.
ABC News' Molly Nagle, Cheyenne Haslett, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Elizabeth Schulze contributed to this report.
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