Tim Walls is an American politician former school teacher and retired US Army non-commissioned officer who has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019 he is the Democratic party's nominee for vice president in the 20124 United States presidential election born April 6th 1964 age 60 years West Point Nebraska United States spouse Gwen walls M 1994 more Education Minnesota State University Mano 2001 more party Democratic Party candidate for vice president of the United States general election 2024 previous campaigns 2022 United States gubernatorial elections 2018 United States gubernatorial elections office governor of Minnesota since 2019 early career teaching after graduating from chatran State College in 1989 walls accepted a one-year teaching position with World teach in Foshan number one high school in Guangdong China he described the Tian Square massacre that happened right before he arrived as an important moment in his life he has said that the problem with China is not the people but the government and that with the right leadership the Chinese people could accomplish anything after returning he took a job teaching and coaching an alliance a town of 10,000 in western Nebraska and in 1993 was named outstanding young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce while working as a teacher walls met his wife Gwen Whipple a fellow teacher and in 1994 the two married two years later they moved to mano Minnesota Gwen's home state where walls worked as a geography teacher and football coach at Mano West High School the football team had lost 27 straight games when he joined the coaching staff as a defensive coordinator 3 years later in 1999 the team won its first state championship in 1999 walls agreed to be the faculty adviser of manada West High School's first gay straight Alliance he felt it was important that the faculty adviser was the football coach a soldier straight and married to show that different worlds can coexist for 9 years of walls and his wife also ran educational travel Adventures which organized summer educational trips to China for high school students walls earned a master of science and educational leadership from Minnesota State University Mano in 2001 writing his master's thesis on Holocaust Education in March 2006 he took a leave of absence from teaching to focus on his Congressional Campaign early life and education Timothy James walls was born on April 6th 1964 in West Point Nebraska at Memorial Hospital his mother Darlene Rose Ryman was a homemaker and was raised on a farm his father James Frederick walls was a teacher school superintendent and US Army veteran who served in the Korean War and as a child helped with the family butcher store walls is of German Swedish luxembourgish and Irish descent in 1867 his great great-grandfather Sebastian walls immigrated from cenim in the grand duche of benen now in Germany to the United States one of his grandmothers was Swedish American and one of his great-grandmothers was Irish American he was raised Catholic walls and his three siblings grew up in Valentine Nebraska a rural community in the Northwestern part of State in an area of farms and ranchland in school he played football and basketball and ran track after school he would go hunting with his friends while walls was in high school his father who was a chain smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer after his father's diagnosis his family moved to the rural Village of but Nebraska to be closer to his mother's relatives during the Summers he worked on the farm walls graduated from but High School in 1982 with a class of 25 students wal's father died in January 1984 which left his mother and younger brother dependent on Social Security survivor benefits for support he moved to Texas and took courses at the University of Houston and East Asian studies while while being enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard afterward he went to Arkansas where he built tanning beds in a factory and was an instructor in the Arkansas Army National Guard in 1987 walls returned to Nebraska and continued his education at Chadron State College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in social science education in 1989 personal life walls and his wife Gwen born 1966 married on June 4th 1994 raised Catholic he left the church when he married his wife and became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America walls has described himself as a Minnesota Lutheran and referred to Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St Paul Minnesota as his family's Parish the walles underwent fertility treatment at Mayo Clinic for 7 years before their children were born in 2001 and 2006 they lived in Mano Minnesota for nearly 20 years before moving to St Paul with their children upon Wall's election as governor on September 23rd 1995 walls was arrested on a driving Under the Influence charge in da County Nebraska he pleaded guilty to A reduced charge of reckless driving and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days he stopped drinking alcohol after the incident wal's brother Craig died in 2016 after being struck by a falling tree during a storm while on a camping trip in The Boundary Waters canoe area Craig's son who was also hit by the tree survived but suffered severe injuries walls and his wife sold their home when they moved into the governor's residence in 2019 according to financial disclosures made while he was in Congress which a spokesperson for his 2024 campaign confirmed they have owned no stocks or Securities their pensions are their only noteworthy asset as of 2024 walls has a modest Financial profile he owns no businesses and lists no income besides his salary as governor and his wife's teaching salary the Wall's reported income of $166,000 on their 2022 tax returns this places walls among the least wealthy candidates ever to run for vice president