Tim Walz makes his pitch to working class voters at AFSCME Convention in LA (2024)

On Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed a crowd of more than 4,000 union workers in Downtown Los Angeles and made his case for why he and Vice President Kamala Harris are the true champions of the working class.

The 20-minute speech marked Walz’s first solo appearance after he was named Harris’ running mate last week, and it took place at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Convention, an annual gathering for the nation’s largest public sector union.

“Just to be clear, the vice president and I, we know exactly who built this country — It was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation,” Walz said at the AFSCME convention. “And it’s not just a saying, it’s a fact: when unions are strong, America is strong.”

Walz’s speech comes during a time when Democrats and Republicans are fiercely courting working class voters, who are expected to play an outsized role in the outcome of the November election. In all six key swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the working class share of the electorate is larger than the national average.

While Democrats have long considered blue collar workers a blue voting block, Republicans in recent years have seen a surge of support among voters who did not attend college.

Biden lost working class voters by 4 percentage points to former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. This election cycle, Trump has also been seeking the support of organized labor and had Teamsters President Sean O’Brien speak at the Republican National Convention in July.

On Tuesday, Walz argued that Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance are no friends to workers.

“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them,” Walz said. “Every single chance they’ve gotten, they’ve waged war on workers and their ability to collectively bargain, to take that away from them.”

During his speech Walz defended himself from criticisms that Vance and other GOP members have leveled against him — his service in the Minnesota National Guard. Last week Vance — who was a U.S. Marine Corps combat correspondent from 2003 to 2007 — accused Walz of campaigning on “stolen valor” and deliberately retiring to avoid a wartime deployment.

On Tuesday Walz said “you should never denigrate another person’s service record,” adding that he is “damn proud” of his 24 years of service in the National Guard.

Walz’s visit also prompted criticism from SoCal conservatives. Fred Whittaker, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, released a statement saying “as a son of a World War II combat veteran, it’s disgusting that Walz would use the sacrifice of our service members for his political gain, especially after he cut and run when called to deploy into Iraq.”

Aside from his brief defense of his military service, Walz’s speech stayed focused on the Democrats’ agenda to uplift the working class.

He touted his record as a longstanding member of a teachers union, pointing out that he is the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan. He also spoke about Harris’ humble roots growing up in a middle-class family and working at McDonalds in a summer job.

“I keep asking this to make a contrast here: Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s trying to make a McFlurry?” Walz said.

The former social studies teacher flaunted his record on passing pro-worker laws as governor. This included legislation to protect paid sick leave, ban non-compete agreements, raise warehouse safety standards and prohibit employers from holding mandatory meetings intended to persuade workers against unionizing.

“Today, Minnesota is one of the best states for workers in the country,” Walz said. “I’m surrounded by some that aren’t so and the vice president’s vision is to take those worker protections to every state in the union.”

The Walz-Harris ticket has garnered the enthusiastic endorsem*nt of AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who introduced Walz on Tuesday morning.

“Tim is more than an ally. He understands us because he is one of us, a union brother who spent years as a public service worker in this community,” said Saunders. “He embodies the very best of public service, leading with empathy, lookingafter everyone and leaving behind no one.”

Walz’s speech received a standing ovation from the “mean green machine” of AFSCME workers bearing lime-colored shirts and “Harris-Walz” posters.

But the Minnesota governor had little time to stay and mingle as he sped off to deliver another speech at a campaign fundraiser in Newport Beach.

The affluent coastal enclave is deep red territory. Newport donors have contributed more than $770,000 to the Trump campaign this year, according to the Federal Election Commission reports. Nevertheless, Walz’s stump speech was met with a sunny reception from the 200 or so Democrats who gathered at Balboa Bay Resort on Tuesday afternoon.

With tickets for the private event ranging from $1,000 to $100,000, Walz was addressing a very different demographic than at the AFSCME convention and pivoted his speaking points to focus on topics like abortion, safe gun ownership, clean air regulations and the importance of electing America’s first female president.

“We’ve got 84 days to take this country in the direction we know is true to our values, the promise of America,” Walz said. “The idea for my daughter, for my son, for countless young people across this country is to wake up on the 85th day, to know that we have Madam President Kamala Harris.”

The fundraiser is the first of five that Walz is scheduled to headline over three days. On Wednesday he will speak at events in Denver and Boston and on Thursday he will appear in Newport, Rhode Island and Southampton, New York.

Staff writer/editor Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report

Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 2:28 p.m.