Minnesota's first lady is rallying some of the troops as the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago today. Gwen Walz was the surprise guest speaker for the Illinois Convention Delegation's breakfast.
"You are my first stop," said Walz. "So you are my Monday morning first period, we're going to school today stop."
She says she spent many on New Year's Eve in Chicago, and Walz introduced herself and talked about how she met and learned to work with her husband, Tim.
And most importantly, she stressed the mission for the Harris-Walz ticket.
"We have 78 days to go, 78 short days to make history," Walz explained. "78 days to do the work together."
Doing the work turned out to be the message of that event in Chicago.
FAMOUS MINNESOTA POLITICAL FAMILY PRESENT IN CHICAGO
Many of the delegates from Minnesota are first-timers, but obviously not all. WCCO's Susie Jones ran into a member of a famous Minnesota political family, Buck Humphrey.
Humphrey's grandfather, Hubert, ran for president in 1968 at a very contentious convention also in Chicago.
"I think we're at just as pivotal moment in our history, but in a much better way," Humphrey explains.
Humphrey has been at every convention since 1992 except Philadelphia in 2016, and says this year is different.
"People are so excited, they're so excited about the future," Humphrey said. "There's still a lot of hard work, a lot of worry. It's a very close race, but this was a great day to start off and we're going to honor a man who put his country ahead of himself in Chicago."
Humphrey is of course referring to current President Joe Biden, who announced he was ending his campaing for reelection and endorsing his current Vice President Kamala Harris' candidicy. She will be able to formally accept the nomination for the Democrats on Thursday night at the convention.
Hubert Humphrey also ran on the Democratic ticket in 1968, stepping into the race when sitting President Lyndon Johnson decided to end his run, one of the only campaign years that can be compared to what happened here in 2024. Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon that year.