‘Proud to be an educator for Harris’: Gwen Walz campaigns in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Gwen Walz, the wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in Grand Rapids Wednesday.

Gwen Walz headlined an event at City Built Brewing Company in the Belknap Lookout neighborhood alongside members of the Michigan Education Association.

“I’m proud to be an educator educator for (Vice President Kamala) Harris,” Gwen Walz said to a room of teachers, who responded with cheers and applause.

Gwen Walz, an English teacher, said she met her husband, Tim Walz, when they were both teaching in Nebraska in an old choir room separated by a divider wall to make two classrooms. She made a connection between the anticipation of a new school year and this year’s presidential election.

“There are unlimited possibilities in the air. Possibilities of what is to be in a brand-new school year. That’s sort of how this election feels to me too right now. It feels like unlimited possibilities, like the beginning of something. … We are feeling the joy and the hope and we are ready for that fresh start. We are ready for a new way forward,” Gwen Walz said.

She said Harris and Walz plan to build what she called an “opportunity economy.”

“That’s super important because when people work hard, they can have a chance at success. … VP Harris specifically talked about what this means for the middle class. And most of us in here, teachers, we are the middle class. And we all are working hard and helping our students work hard because we know that those policies that she is advocating for and putting forth, they lift up hardworking, middle-class families, families like our own. That’s super important. That’s called an advocate,” Gwen Walz said.

She referred to the teachers in the room as “peers, colleagues, and people we’re going to work hand-in-hand with.” Gwen Walz called them to be “lesson-plan purposeful” in the short time until the election — volunteer, go to campaign events and have conversations.

“Let’s find ways that teachers know, that teachers figure out, let’s use our teacher minds to think about this race and this election and to get to people that we maybe couldn’t have gotten to before that others can’t get to. Let’s be the educators we are and use our power in the way that we can, in the way that we will, in the way that we know, that’s special to our profession,” she said.

Michigan is a key battleground in the Nov. 5 election. A recent poll conducted by Emerson College Polling, The Hill and WOOD TV8 showed a tight race in Michigan: Harris had a 3-point lead over former President Donald Trump, a statistical tie considering the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.

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