Tim Walz is a current Governor of Minnesota and Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election; he is a practicing Lutheran. Walz’s religious affiliation and his likely becoming the second Lutheran vice president were, in the past weeks, subjects of broad attention.
Tim Walz’s lutheran faith
Walz is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has not been shy about his religion throughout his political career. He regularly worships at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and posts on social media attending Christmas and other holiday services.
Although he is open, Walz doesn’t speak much about his personal faith in public. “Because we’re good Minnesota Lutherans,” he told an interviewer last year, “we have a rule: If you do something good and talk about it, it no longer counts. So what you have to do is get someone else to talk about you.”
Walz’s Lutheran faith has largely been coupled to his political career, orienting his emphasis on community service and helping those in need. As governor, he advanced progressive policies such as free universal school meals, recreational marijuana legalization, and paid family and medical leave.
Lutherans in the White House
If elected, Walz would have been just the second Lutheran to hold the vice presidency, following Hubert Humphrey in 1965. The United States has never had a Lutheran president. The last time a Lutheran appeared on a major party’s presidential ticket was 2000, when Al Gore tapped Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew. There were a few murmurs about Lieberman’s faith, but for most voters, it didn’t much matter.
His home state of Minnesota has a large Lutheran population because of a wave of Scandinavian immigrants who settled the region starting in the 19th century. With the greatest number of Lutherans of any state in the United States, Walz chose Minnesota for their establishment.
The Lutheran faith represents the thread that weaves through who Tim Walz is and how he views politics. Now that he is joining the national stage as vice presidential running mate to Kamala Harris, people are talking about his religious affiliation, which could make him the nation’s second Lutheran vice president.
With Walz’s pick, that could all change, opening up the path to greater religious diversity right at the top of American government. As a practicing Lutheran, Walz brings to the Democratic ticket an enlivening perspective, one that might well attract the sort of voters who crave a candidate dedicated to community service and trying to help those in need.
