How School Lunch Became A Symbol Of Tim Walz's Appeal To Voters

Making school meals free for all students in Minnesota is one of Tim Walz’s signature achievements as governor.

It’s a program that Kristine Black, the principal of Hidden Valley Elementary School in Savage, Minnesota, says has positively impacted every student at her school.

“We know the financial part is helpful for families, so that relieves stress,” said Black, whose school has carved out 15 minutes at the beginning of the day for students to eat breakfast in their classrooms.

“Knowing they’re going to have a strong, solid breakfast is great as well,” Black said. “Knowing they’re going into their classroom and they’re going to be supervised, it builds our home and school connection.”

When he takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening, Walz — tapped only weeks ago by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate in her quest to succeed President Joe Biden in the White House — will be introducing himself to the nation and cementing his status as one of the Democratic Party’s standard-bearers.

As Minnesota’s governor since 2019, Walz is known for overseeing an ambitious progressive policy agenda that includes 12 weeks of paid family leave, free public college tuition for low- and middle-income families, and the ability for anyone to buy into Medicaid, to name just a few of the measures that established Walz as a champion of progressive reforms in a state where Democrats came into full power only two years ago.

Even among those policy victories, school lunch stands out. A voter survey published Wednesday by the Democratic polling firm Blueprint found free school lunch “is the only one of Walz’s most popular accomplishments surveyed that more than 40% of voters have heard