By james art 
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz held a brief meet-and-greet from the airport runway Monday morning before boarding a plane and leaving for the final day of campaigning.
Waltz, accompanied by first lady Gwen Waltz and daughter Hope Waltz, hugged and took selfies with the crowd of about 150 people shortly after 9:20 a.m. Monday, Nov. 4.
The dispatch from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Monday marks Waltz’s last trip to the state before Tuesday’s general election. Waltz is running for vice president alongside Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Mary Murphy / Forum News Service
As Waltz and his family boarded the Harris-Waltz campaign plane, he waved goodbye as some of his signature campaign songs, such as John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” played in the background.
Minnesota DFL Representatives. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Congresswoman Betty McCollum were also on hand to send Waltz off.
Sherry Blasing, a former neighbor of Walz’s and the current principal of Mankato West High School, where Walz taught, told Forum News Service that watching Walz’s campaign has been inspiring.
“To think that our neighbor, a teacher that we know very well, has been put on this national stage, and I think that gives us a lot of hope for the future,” she said.
Blessing said it was surreal watching him and that she wants people to know how authentic he is.
“What you see is really what you get,” she said. “He’s the same Tim running for vice president that we’ve been seeing in the backyard at our Fourth of July parties all these years.”
Waltz didn’t make a statement or take questions during the meet and greet, but told the crowd he was “feeling great” as he gave two thumbs up.
Walz is set to campaign in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania on Monday and will spend election night at Howard University in Washington, D.C., with Harris.
Mary Murphy joined Forum Communications in October 2024 as the Minnesota State Correspondent. She can be reached by email at [email protected].