Gov. Walz makes appearance at Minnesota State Fair

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first and only trip to the State Fair Sunday morning, and since he’s now a vice presidential nominee, it was much different than his previous visits.

What happened

Word spread fast about a fair visit from Gov. Walz and the vice presidential nominee didn’t keep folks waiting for long.

"It's just getting around," said 11-year-old Dahlia Galle as she stood waiting for the governor outside the Dairy Building.

"We had heard rumors that Gov. Walz was going to be here," said Tim Totenberg of Apple Valley. "And so we decided, let's see if that's what's actually going on. Now, maybe we're going to get some ice cream with the guy."

A quick stop for a pork chop — on a stick, of course — was followed by a deep dive into dairy alongside Minnesota’s First Lady and their daughter, Hope.

"We're very happy to have him here and to put him to work," said Brittany Arnold, a manager at the Dairy Goodness vendor.

He’s keeping his day job, but Walz has made a tradition of slinging scoops.

"We have definitely had him for past fairs come by and giving him the tour," Arnold said. "But this is a lot different than, obviously the previous times you've had him here."

The governor walked away with a vanilla malt of his own that he worked through for the rest of a 45-minute fair visit.

He met Rachel Visser, this year’s Princess Kay of the Milky Way, and got a good look at the butter sculptures, including the one of her likeness.

What they're saying

The crowd seemed to eat up their chance to visit with the governor who’s taken Minnesota to the national stage as a potential VP.

"I said, ‘Mankato' and he's like, 'finally everyone is learning to pronounce Mankato correctly'," said Darin Mays, a Dairy Building vendor.

The governor ate it up, too, and lamented losing some of his ability to just be part of the crowd.

"I'm more concerned, obviously, about the disruption to the other folks, but it's exciting," he said. "I think people are saying that we're getting to talk about Minnesota across the country and talk about the economy here, talk about things like the state fair, talk about agriculture."

After this whirlwind tour of the Minnesota state fair, Gov. Walz will speak to labor leaders in Minneapolis on Labor Day and then head back out on the campaign trail.