Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with child care providers at CLUES in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 1, 2023. (Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, is going to host a town hall in Des Moines Friday as the first stop on a national tour heading through Republican-represented areas.
The Des Moines town hall, set to begin at 3 p.m. Friday, is the first stop for the Minnesota Democrat as he plans to head to areas currently represented by Republicans in the U.S. House. The tour began after Walz made a post on the social media platform X responding to news that the House GOP’s campaign leadership told members to stop holding town halls because of backlash over cuts taken by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s temporary organization, the Department of Government Efficiency.
“That’s a shame. If your Republican representative won’t meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will,” Walz wrote on X earlier in March. “Hell, maybe I will. If your congressman refuses to meet, I’ll come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat ‘em.”
Walz told CNN Wednesday that he and his staff were overwhelmed by the response to the post, with hundreds of local party leaders and candidates reaching out to hold events in their area. As the running mate to former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee who lost to President Donald Trump in the 2024 general election, Walz said he believed he could serve as a “catalyst” for Americans who feel unheard in the current political climate.
“I have a little more of a national voice, so I should bring it to them, and I’m going to basically be handing the megaphone to them,” Walz said to CNN.
The event in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, currently represented Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, is already sold out, with a waitlist available. Walz also has a Saturday stop planned in Omaha, Nebraska, which is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. Both Nunn and Bacon won tight reelection races in 2024.
Other town halls are planned for Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio in coming weeks, with additional events expected to be announced.
The Friday town hall will be the first time Walz has returned to Iowa since he joined Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart at the Iowa State Fair in 2023.
Though many high-profile Democrats or potential 2028 presidential candidates have not yet returned to the campaign trail, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, has also visited Iowa as part of a national tour in 2025. In February, he spoke in Iowa City as part of his “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” campaign focused on criticisms of Trump and Musk.
