Tim Walz returns to his home state, where there is a battle for a key electoral vote in Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Thousands of Nebraskans are expected to turn out Saturday for native Tim Walz in his first trip back to his home state since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

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

His appearance in Omaha also reinforces the campaign’s interest in securing the single electoral vote that comes with winning the second congressional district, which Joe Biden secured in 2020 and Barack Obama in 2008. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is expected to visit Omaha next week. for a private fundraiser hosted by Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts.

“I think it just goes to show the importance that we as a blue dot — CD2 — has,” said Omaha professor Wes Jensen.

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 believes Walz “can speak to rural areas of the country in ways that other candidates never could. He added, “So I’m hoping this will turn some votes in rural Nebraska and 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 Kamala Harris-Walz ticket of not representing “Midwestern values” and said Nebraska voters “will send a resounding message” when they help former president back in office.

Bill McCamley of Lincoln said he remembers Walz, now governor of Minnesota, being interested in government when he taught him seventh-grade social studies at Valentine, but he never expected to become governor or perhaps vice president one day.

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

“I was with him, but he did the job. He talked to them and said that was the idea. That’s what I want to do,” McCamley said. “Then he understood that he made them agree to accept it. I thought that was pretty impressive.”

McCamley had to call the state Democratic Party to gain access to Saturday’s rally after the online registration system was shut down after 10,000 people expressed interest in attending the rally at a theater in the Omaha suburb of La Vista, which is designed to seat only about 2,500 people. As unlikely as that might be, 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 met in the seventh grade.

Long said she stuck with Valentine Walz for years because the message declaring, “Ours is a weird and wonderful relationship,” made her laugh. On the inside, the card read: “You’re weird and I’m awesome.”

“That sums up his humor,” said Long, who used to compete with Walz to see which one was smarter because her father 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 they both lived in the Panhandle — until she noticed him in the news as a governor dealing with tough issues like the protests that followed by George Floyd. murder at the hands of the Minneapolis police.

After facing that turmoil and passing key priorities like abortion protections and free school lunches, Walz has a long list of accomplishments that will appeal to Democratic voters.

But Long said Walz could also appeal to Republicans because he’s smart, funny and cares about helping people.

“I think if people are willing to listen — really listen — to the things he’s saying and things like that, some doors will open,” said Long, who lives in Hot Springs, South Dakota, and doesn’t will be able to accompany his father to the rally.