CHICAGO — Democrats enthusiastically introduced Vice Presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the country Wednesday night, who made an appeal to Middle America by emphasizing his own background and career.

Walz, who took the stage to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” and delegates holding signs that read “Coach Walz” and chants of “coach,” described himself as a National Guard veteran, a public school teacher, and a governor who successfully implemented a range of progressive priorities. 

“We made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch, every day,” he said. “While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.”

Minnesota also enshrined the right to an abortion during Walz’ governorship, and said “freedom” is a central focus of the Harris-Walz campaign, portraying it as a sharp contrast to former President Donald Trump’s plans. 

“It’s an agenda that serves nobody except the richest and most extreme among us, and it’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need,” he said of Trump and his allies. “Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong, and it’s dangerous.” 

Harris will cut taxes for middle class families, take on big pharmaceutical companies, and make housing more affordable, Walz said.

“No matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for you to have the freedom to live the life that you want to lead,” Walz said. 

A former student, Benjamin C. Ingman introduced Walz and was joined by members of the state champion high school football team Walz coached. Ingman said Walz took an additional role coaching seventh grader track and basketball in order to pay off another student’s school lunch debt. 

It was a night celebrating the Gopher State, and John Legend and Sheila E. played Prince’s iconic “Let’s Go Crazy” before Walz’s remarks. 

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Minnesotans trust Walz as a coach who brought an 0-27 high school football team a state championship, as a hunter and as a “dad in plaid.” But more importantly, Walz is an effective governor who has improved the lives of those in his state, Klobuchar said. 

“Tim has delivered paid leave, school lunches, and the biggest tax cut in Minnesota’s history,” Klobuchar said. “A Democrat from a red district in a purple state, Tim has brought Minnesota together.”

House leaders take the stage

The night also featured addresses by House leaders, both past and present. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hit familiar notes criticizing “MAGA Republicans,” aiming his attention on the Republican nominee.

Jeffries said Trump failed the country during the pandemic, incited the mob that attacked the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and put the justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade. 

“Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend you broke up with, but he just won’t go away,” Jeffries said. “He has spent the last four years spinning the block, trying to get back into a relationship with the American people. Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who remains one of the most powerful Democrats in the country, focused much of her speech on the Jan. 6 attack, saying that while Trump threatened the country, the Congress and people she led as speaker “saved democracy” that day.

“Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office,” Pelosi said. “Let us not forget who assaulted Democracy on January 6.” 

Earlier in the night, the party aired clips of the Jan. 6 insurrection alongside audio of Trump saying he would pardon some of those who participated in the attack. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi who chaired the Jan. 6 committee, said Trump urged his supporters to incite an insurrection because he was angry he lost the 2020 election and “now he’s plotting again.”

“Elections are about choice,” Thompson added. “Choose Democracy, not political violence. Choose the America we always taught our children to love. Choose Kamala Harris.”

Former President Bill Clinton was another featured speaker Wednesday night. In his lengthy address, which he mostly read off paper in front of him and diverged widely from the teleprompter, gave more attention to President Joe Biden than most, praising Biden’s presidency and decision to step aside in favor of Harris.  

“I want to thank him for his courage, compassion, his class, his service, his sacrifice,” Clinton said, to chants of “Thank You, Joe” from delegates. 

Clinton said Harris would put the American people first, and blasted Trump, saying he only cared about himself.

Up-and-comer Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland were also in Wednesday’s lineup, closer to the end of the night. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gave an optimistic speech, saying that America is “not in the market for darkness” and described politics as a noble pursuit that, among its merits, resulted in him being able to raise a family — something he, as a gay man, did not think possible as a teenager.

Other celebrities were on hand Wednesday night, with Chicago’s own Oprah Winfrey energizing the crowd late in the evening.

“Who says you can’t go home again?” she said to raucous cheers. Describing herself as a proud independent who is under no illusions about some of the darker elements of society, she called for Americans to “choose joy” in this election.

“Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over a bitter return to yesterday,” Oprah said. 

Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari contributed to this report.