Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, is introduced by his former student Aubri Faustman at a campaign rally, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at The Astro in La Vista, Neb. (AP Photo/Bonnie Ryan)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tim Walz touted his Nebraska roots Saturday in his first trip back to his home state since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and drew sharp contrasts between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Playing to the crowd, Walz noted his love of Nebraska football and joked about the historical significance of the Stonehenge replica built out of classic cars known as Carhenge that sits near where he taught in the Panhandle. He then emphasized the values he learned growing up of helping neighbors and minding everyone's own business.

“More than anything else — just like here in Nebraska — Minnesota's strength comes from our values,” he said about the state he serves as governor.

Walz stressed that he and Harris believe in helping all Americans succeed — not just the millionaires and billionaires he said Trump and the GOP want to help. It was all part of his appeal for the lone electoral vote in Omaha's swing Second Congressional District that can be split off from the rest of the heavily Republican state that Democrats Joe Biden secured in 2020 and Barack Obama in 2008. That swing vote is sure to be contested. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is expected to visit Omaha next week for a private fundraiser hosted by Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts.

“I think it just proves the importance that we as the blue dot — CD2 — has,” Omaha teacher Wes Jensen said.

Going after Republicans as intrusive in people's everyday lives, Walz said the fact they want to make decisions about Americans’ health care including abortion rights and try to hurt Social Security is “not just weird, it’s dangerous. And when they try to overturn elections, that’s not just weird, it’s un-American.”

He said Trump and his fellow Republicans are “super concerned with our bedrooms, our exam rooms and libraries.”

Nebraska Democrats Chairwoman Jane Kleeb joked near the start of the event that Omaha has a new nickname, “Kamaha,” as she encouraged everyone at the rally to work hard to elect Harris and Walz in November.

Supporters hope Walz’s knowledge of rural America — he grew up in the small towns of Valentine and Butte in the Sandhills — could help Democrats appeal to wide swaths of Republican strongholds where they have rarely been competitive in recent elections.

Former state Sen. Al Davis, who represented the Panhandle town of Alliance where Walz taught for six years before moving to Minnesota after meeting his wife, said he thinks Walz “can speak to rural parts of the country in ways that other candidates never could do." He added, "so I’m hoping that that will turn some votes in rural parts of Nebraska and across the Midwest."

Alliance residents are planning a local rally of their own next week to watch Walz speak at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Even before Walz took the stage in Omaha, the Republican National Committee accused the Harris-Walz ticket of not representing “Midwestern values” and said Nebraska voters “will send a resounding message” when they help put the former president back in office.

Bill McCamley of Lincoln said he remembers that Walz was interested in government when he taught him social studies in the seventh grade in Valentine but he never expected him to go on to become governor or perhaps vice president someday.

McCamley said Walz came up with the idea on his own in the seventh grade to build a veterans memorial for everyone from Cherry County who had served in the military, and then he convinced local leaders to build a sidewalk for the memorial.

“I went with him, but he did the job. He talked to them and said this is that idea. This is what I want to do,” McCamley said. “Then he ... got them to agree to go along with it. I thought that was pretty impressive.”

McCamley had to call the state Democratic Party to get access to Saturday's rally after the online registration system was shut down once 10,000 had expressed interest in attending the rally at a theater in the Omaha suburb of La Vista that's only designed to hold about 2,500 people. However unlikely it was, McCamley hoped for a chance to reconnect with his former student and jokingly confront him about a valentine he gave his daughter, Julie Long, when the two dated in the seventh grade.

Long said she hung onto the valentine Walz gave her for a lot of years because the message declaring, “Ours is a strange and wonderful relationship,” made her laugh. On the inside, the card said, “You're strange and I'm wonderful.”

“That kind of sums up his humor,” said Long who used to compete with Walz to see which one of them was smarter because her dad was a teacher and his was the superintendent there.

They both moved away in high school and Long lost track of Walz — outside of a chance meeting when both of them lived in the Panhandle — until she noticed him showing up in the news as governor dealing with difficult problems like the protests that followed George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police.

After dealing with that unrest and managing to pass key priorities like protections for abortion and free lunches for school kids, Walz has a long list of accomplishments that will appeal to Democratic voters.

But Long said Walz might also appeal to Republicans because he is smart, funny and cares about helping people.

“I think if people are willing to listen — really listen — to the things that he says and, and those kinds of things, that it will open some doors,” said Long who now lives in Hot Springs, South Dakota.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024