Steve Liewer, Luna Stephens and Mike Bell
Omaha World-Herald
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied several thousand cheering people in Nebraska, hoping to turn at least some of his red home state blue.
"I have to admit it feels pretty good to be back home," Walz said as he took the stage Saturday in his first visit to his native state since Aug. 6, when Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate on this year’s Democratic presidential ticket.
Walz headlined an afternoon rally at The Astro Theater in La Vista, and he fired up the capacity crowd of 2,500 (plus another 2,000 watching a video feed in an amphitheater outdoors, according to the campaign) with home-state shoutouts — to chili and cinnamon rolls, to Carhenge, to tubing in the Niobrara River, to Runza, which he claimed JD Vance, his Republican counterpart, would call "Hot Pockets."
“I grew up as all of you did, bleeding Nebraska Red,†Walz said. “But now I’m the governor of Gopher Nation!â€
Walz was born in West Point, grew up in Valentine, and taught school in Alliance before moving to Minnesota — the home state of his wife, Gwen — in 1996. He served 15 years in the Nebraska National Guard.
Supporters cheered and waved signs that said "KAMALA" and "Nebraska (Hearts) Coach," a reference to Walz’s years as a high school football coach.
Tim and Gwen Walz took the stage to the pounding beat of John Mellancamp’s ode to rural life, “Small Town.â€
“You can take the man out of Nebraska,†Gwen Walz said, “but you can’t take Nebraska out of the man.â€
The Nebraska Democrats in attendance made it clear they were thrilled to see him, too.
Ted Venter, 41, and Rachel Venter, 37, drove in from Lincoln for the rally with their two children, who are 4 and 8 years old.
“We’re just energized and excited and we wanted to show our children a bit of civic duty,†Ted said.
Walz has ridden a wave of Democratic enthusiasm for the Harris-Walz ticket, a rapid reversal since President Joe Biden, under pressure from party leaders, dropped his reelection bid on July 21.
In that month, the glum spirits of the blue faithful have lifted, even in bright red Nebraska.Â
Jodie Nelan, 47, praised what she called Walz’s “great vibe.â€
She had driven four hours from her hometown of Brady, Nebraska, and stayed overnight in a motel to catch the rally.
“I’m just really excited about this campaign and I think it’s really important to be involved locally,†she said.
The goal: Keep 'The Blue Dot' blue
It may seem odd that a Democratic vice presidential candidate, even with home-state roots, would find a Nebraska visit worth the time during a busy campaign schedule.
But there's a solid political reason for the attention.
Nebraska, unlike any other state except for Maine, allocates its electoral college votes by congressional district. That means the Omaha area's one electoral college vote can be won by Democrats, even as the rest of the state gives the majority of its votes to Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump. That happened in 2008, when Barack Omaha won the electoral college vote, and 2020, when Joe Biden got it.
Biden's erstwhile presidential campaign had hired Nebraska staff and run ads to woo the Omaha area this year. Walz's visit shows the Harris campaign will work to do the same.
Former U.S. Senator and Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson, the last Nebraska Democrat to hold statewide office, said there’s a good chance Omaha’s "Blue Dot" could happen again this general election.
"We've done it before, and the numbers look like we can do it again," he said as he attended the rally. "Three or four weeks ago, it was not the same momentum. People are passionate about what the Biden Administration has done, but now there's a change."
Harris-Walz supporters lined up hours before the 1 p.m. event, to hear Walz and other state Democratic candidates, including Preston Love Jr., who is running against U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, and State Sen. Tony Vargas, who is challenging four-term incumbent Rep. Don Bacon in the second Congressional district.
Love predicted he could beat Ricketts in what he called “the biggest upset in America,†and said Democratic voters could even flip two of Nebraska’s three Congressional seats.
“We are going to be the center of the political universe this year,†he said.
The crowd repeatedly cheered for school teachers and labor unions, two core groups of Democratic supporters.
“We have teachers up and down the ballot, y’all,†said Vargas, who, like Walz, is a former teacher.
'Meet Mr. Walz'
Aubrianna Faustman, a former Walz student who now works as a lobbyist in Lincoln, introduced Walz to the crowd. She said when she learned he had been tapped for the Democratic ticket, she told her husband, “I cannot wait for the rest of the country to meet Mr. Walz.â€
Faustman recalled the enthusiasm he brought to the classroom.
“That same energy you see in him out on the campaign trail is what we saw in class every day,†she said.
The crowd erupted when Walz stepped out. He waved and slapped hands with those on the stage, and hugged Faustman.
“There’s nothing as a teacher that makes you prouder than to see one of your students do well,†Walz said.
He said he had gone to high school in Butte, Nebraska, a village of 400 people, and graduated in a class of 24.
“I don’t know what their politics are, but I know their friendship and kindness and when my family was down on the rocks, they were there for us,†Walz said. “I wouldn’t trade growing up in that town for anything.â€
Walz’s father was a Korean War veteran, he said, and with his support Walz enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard in 1981, just two days after his 17th birthday — a commitment he said gave him “purpose, strength of a shared commitment and being something greater than ourselves.â€
He did not mention the end of his military career, in 2005, when he retired from his Minnesota National Guard unit after achieving the rank of command sergeant major, but without completing required classwork. At the time, Walz was preparing to run for the U.S. House. His unit was called up about two months after his retirement and sent to Iraq, a deployment that stretched to 22 months. The timing of his departure, after 24 years of service, has drawn criticism from some Republicans, including several he served with.Â
But he did mention his House service, noting that he was elected to the U.S. House from a Minnesota district that most often had supported Republicans. It was one of several aspects of his 30-minute speech that sought to appeal to not just Democrats but Republicans and independents.Â
“In Congress, I learned to compromise while not compromising my values....More than anything else, just like here in Nebraska, Minnesota's our strength comes from our values,†he said.
He also drummed on some of the themes of the Harris campaign, including protecting children from gun violence in schools and allowing women reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion.
And he repeated what’s already a reliable Democratic applause line from his stump speech.
“We live by the Golden Rule,†Walz said. “And that Golden Rule is: Mind your own damn business."
In an attempt to further draw from those who have voted for Trump, he said, “if you are an old school Republican libertarian Nebraskan, this is the ticket for you.â€
Photos: Gov. Tim Walz returns to Nebraska to campaign in Omaha
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz takes selfies with supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at the Astro Theater in La Vista on Saturday.