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Ryuu96 on 06 August 2024
Hope people are okay with this but I'm copy/pasting a post I saw on Era which sums up Walz's career.
- Born in Nebraska in a town of 400.
- Spent his summers working on a ranch and later in manufacturing.
- Graduated high school in a class of 25.
- Joined the Army National Guard as an artilleryman for 24 years.
- Served overseas and in disaster zones.
- Retired as command sergeant major, one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier.
- Used the GI bill to get through college, received a masters degree.
- Worked as a high school geography teacher.
- Was a state championship winning football coach.
- Beat incumbent Gutknecht by 5 points in a +25 Republican district that bordered Iowa and was mostly rural and small towns
- Cosponsored a bill to raise the minimum wage.
- Supported stem cell research.
- Voted to allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices.
- Helped repeal don't ask don't tell.
- Voted against multiple abortion prohibitions.
- Supported the Affordable Care Act.
- Voted against the Iraq Surge.
- Took a public stance in 2006 in favour of gay marriage.
- Received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the National Organization for Women
- Ranked the 7th-most bipartisan House member.
- Served on the Committee of Agriculture, Armed Services Committee, Committee For Veterans Affairs.
- Has the longest military record of anyone in Congress.
- Served in his seat for 12 years, won against multiple Republican challengers.
- Won in 2016 despite his district going +15 for Trump.
- Signed a $2.3 billion education budget into law – the single-largest investment in public education in state history.
- Established reproductive freedom, protections for Trans individuals, and gender-affirming care as fundamental rights in Minnesota
- Banned Conversion therapy
- Passed 300 million dollar package in public aid safety that was able to be used for re-training departments, mental health crisis response units, victim services, recruiting new employees, and first responder wellness and training programs.
- Facilitated a state investigation with the human rights department of the state and the mayor of Minneapolis that led to a sweeping overhaul of policing accountability in Minneapolis and other cities.
- Passed Robust Gun Control Laws: red flag law, expanding background checks, increasing criminal penalties for straw purchasing guns, and banning deadly binary trigger guns.
- Established paid leave, ensured paid sick days, banned non-compete agreements, and increased protections for workers in Amazon warehouses, construction sites, hospitals, nursing homes, and public schools.
- Signed the largest infrastructure bill in Minnesota's history
- Passed legislation to bring down drug costs and cap the price of insulin
- Increased the investments in childcare to over 1 billion dollars and passed free college tuition for families making under 80k
- Passed voting rights protections and reforms including establishing automatic voter registration, creating a permanent absentee voting status, and pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.
- Established a replacement child tax credit similar to the former national one
- Legalized weed
- Canceled and took actions to block predatory medical debt collections
- Passed elder abuse laws and new 125 million in funding for senior living homes
- Passed 300 million to be allocated to local cities to establish
- Passed 40 climate change laws and initiatives
- Maintained a Budget Surplus every year
- Minnesota is the 6th top state for business in America as of 2024.
- He's a white Christian man who grew up in conservative Nebraska.
- Blue collar worker, in manufacturing and agriculture.
- One of the most successful governors in recent history with a 0-1 seat majority.
- Endorsed by Pelosi, loved by Biden.
