Longtime Minnesota state Rep. Pelowski of Winona sums up the Tim Walz nomination

While most of the focus has been on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz getting picked as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, his potential vacancy brings even more historical significance.

Longtime Minnesota state House Rep. Gene Pelowski (D-Winona) joined WIZM’s La Crosse Talk PM on Tuesday and discussed this significance.

Because if the Harris-Walz ticket wins the fall election, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan takes the helm in Minnesota and becomes the first Native American in U.S. history to become governor.

“That’s an interesting dynamic,” Pelowski said Tuesday on La Crosse Talk PM. “We could have the first female governor of Minnesota and the first female president of the United States, and Tim Walz would be instrumental in both.”

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Pelowski, who has been a state rep. since 1983 and is retiring at the end of his term this year, also talked, of course, about the surprise and possible reasons behind Walz getting picked.

“It crept up on us but as we got closer to narrowing it down it began to be clear they were looking for somebody who had major accomplishments at the state level that could run then on the national — and of course with his Congressional experience, that fit too,” Pelowski said. “So, I think the historic sessions of 2023 and 2024 probably were the things that put him over the top for the selection.”

Those sessions included:

• universal free school meals
• legal weed
• tax rebates for the working class up to $1,300 (making under $150k per year)
• 12 weeks paid family leave
• 12 weeks paid sick leave
• banned conversion therapy
• red flag laws for guns
• universal background checks for guns
• automatic voter registration
• free public college (under $80k)
• ban on PFAS (forever chemicals)
• $2.2 billion increase in k-12 school funding
• sectoral bargaining for nursing home workers••
• carbon free electricity by 2040

Walxz is a former teacher, a veteran of the National Guard and football coach. Pelowski, also a former teacher, said that profession has served Walz well and will continue to do so in the White House.

“Teachers are always trying to educate and I think the governor acts just as a teacher, too,” Pelowski said. “He wants to educate people on the proper way government should function, because politics should be about the improvement of people’s lives. … And I think that’s the legacy of Tim Walz as governor — the improvement of people’s lives in Minnesota.”