Tim Walz of Minnesota and Joe Courtney of Connecticut both flipped rural, Republican-held districts in 2006, helping to propel a blue wave that led Democrats to seize control of the House for the first time in a dozen years.
“That shared experience really created a bond between us,” Courtney said Tuesday, after Vice President Kamala Harris named Walz as her running mate. “He is just such a salt of the earth, down-to-earth guy that instantly [makes] friends with people.’’
Eighteen years later, the bond remains. “I’ve been texting with him for the last week and a half and I talked to him a week ago Sunday,” said Courtney, who is running for his 10th term in the House. “I’m just so excited.”
Other Democrats who entered Congress with Walz in that watershed year shaped by discontent over the Iraq War expressed similar sentiments.
Former Rep. Jason Altmire of Florida called Walz “a relatable everyday American who can appeal to working class voters everywhere.”
Former Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana sat next to Walz on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and described the former Army National Guard member as “a tireless champion” for veterans.
Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a member of the House’s Class of 2006 who won a Senate seat in 2012, said of Walz on X that “the down-to-earth, compassionate, regular guy you see on TV is exactly who he is in person.”
Former Rep. Ron Klein, board chair of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said Walz had “taken on Republican extremists” before and will do so again.
“Love my House classmate. Go Tim!!!” former Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky posted on X, along with a now-viral clip of Walz calling Republicans “weird.”
Class president
Walz, a former teacher and high school football coach, was so well-liked that he was one of two newcomers chosen in 2007 to serve as president of the freshman class in the 110th Congress.
A deep reservoir of goodwill for Walz remains: some of his former House colleagues were among the loudest voices promoting his candidacy. They included California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who became the first woman speaker of the House in 2007 after Democrats picked up 31 seats and ended Republicans’ 12-year grip on the chamber.
For many of the Democrats in the Class of 2006, it’s as if the quarterback on their high school team made it to the Super Bowl.
But support for Walz is about more than pride that one of their own has been tapped to run for the nation’s second-highest office.
House Democrats say the political skills Walz honed in the crucible of the 2006 midterms will lift the party this year, especially in battleground states. After all, Walz’s own political trajectory began when he defeated a six-term Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht in an upset win in a district that only one Democrat had won since 1893. (Gutknecht had been swept into office by the 1994 Republican Revolution led by Newt Gingrich.)
‘Huge help’ to swing seat candidates
“The people who flipped seats and had to go out and reach outside of the comfort zone of the Democratic base, are precisely the people that are battle tested for 2024,” Courtney said. “Part of his job [on Harris’ ticket] is going to be to campaign for the under ticket. And if you look at some of the swing seats for the House, Tim can go in there and really be a huge help to those candidates. He can connect to populations that I think Democrats sometimes struggle with.”
Expanding the base was the Democrats’ mantra in 2006. The electorate had soured on President George W. Bush, was on edge over the economy and had grown increasingly disillusioned over the war in Iraq. Also on voters’ minds were criminal probes and instances of personal misconduct that wound up costing the GOP seats in Pennsylvania, New York and California.
“It was the first in a series of really volatile midterm elections,’’ said Jacob Smith, an assistant professor of political science at Fordham University who is writing a book on wave elections.
Democrats notched a string of victories in the Northeast and the Midwest, including the defeat of 22 GOP incumbents, more than enough to win the majority.
‘Way more moderate’ in 2006
Walz – a veteran who was skeptical about the war in Iraq – portrayed himself as a pragmatist intent on “leaving behind the divisive partisan politics.” Running as a moderate was a winning strategy for many Democrats seeking to win in Republican districts that year, Smith said.
“Tim Walz circa 2006 [was] way more moderate than the Democratic Party of today,’’ he added.
Republicans say Walz – who once had an A-rating from the National Rifle Association and voted in 2015 to support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, despite opposition by environmental groups – has moved sharply to the left.
“Remember when Governor Walz let rioters and looters burn a police station to the ground in 2020?” Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and a member of the Class of 2006, posted on X.
But Democrats expressed confidence that Walz’ working class vibes and ability to win – albeit narrowly – in a rural district that Donald Trump carried in 2016 will make him an effective messenger for the party this year.
“I got to see him firsthand as someone who was incredibly effective,’’ said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who served with Walz on the Agriculture Committee. “He worked with folks across the aisle to make sure that we got things done.”
DelBene said Walz will boost Democrats, including those running in swing districts. “We’re excited to have a former member of the House as Vice President Harris’ pick today,’’ she said. “Everywhere I go across the country, in our battleground districts, people want to see governance work, and now we have an incredible team.”
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