Veteran gets DFL nod in bid for 1st District seat

04/30/2006

Star Tribune Report
April 30, 2006

Congressional challenger Tim Walz received a unanimous endorsement from the DFL party on a voice vote Saturday in southern Minnesota’s First District.

Walz, 42, a teacher at Mankato West High School and retired Army National Guard member, has received prominent mention in national news stories about veterans pursuing congressional seats. He is seeking the seat held by Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.

A former command sergeant major, Walz served in Italy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Walz describes the Afghanistan military operation as a “just war,” but he has been critical of Washington’s handling of the war in Iraq. He does not, he said, believe in setting a date to pull out of Iraq, but he argued recently that such an idea, among others, should at least be debated openly by Congress.