2024 has been a big year for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

He was chosen to run for vice president by Kamala Harris in her campaign against Donald Trump. That, of course, meant he spent a lot of time away from St. Paul.

It was almost stunning to see him standing on stage with Vice President Kamala Harris as she introduced him as her running mate.

“He’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big…and that’s the kind of vice president he will be,” Harris said.

Walz immediately seemed like a natural on the national stage as he stressed his midwestern values.

“Minnesota strengths come from our values. Our commitment to working together. To seeing past our differences. To always being willing to lend a helping hand,” said Walz.

He also unleashed attacks on Republican candidate Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us… he doesn’t know the first thing about service. He doesn’t have time for it because he’s too busy serving himself.”

Walz’s emergence from a long shot to standing on that stage in Philadelphia was acknowledged by former Attorney General Eric Holder, who oversaw the VP selection process for Harris.

“There were 11 candidates we started with and I’m not sure we would have put him in the top tier,” Holder said.

In an interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Holder said Walz was initially way down a list of better-known national figures, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and others.

“It’s hard to pick what is the one thing that made one person be successful and the other not. But I can say what he did as governor I thought was very significant. Very impressive,” Holder added. “And then there was a chemistry that I saw, I actually saw that happen with Kamala Harris and with Tim Walz. So it was a combination I think of accomplishments and chemistry that propelled him to the number two spot on the ticket.”

Just 15 days after his emergence on the national stage, Walz made a splash at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where even some of his former Mankato West High School showed up to honor him.

“While other states were banning books in their schools, we were banning hunger in ours,” said Walz during his fiery speech.

He highlighted his record in Minnesota and ripped Trump for what he would do.

“They’ll start jackin’ up the costs on the middle class. They’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act. They’ll gut Social Security and Medicare. And they will ban abortion across this country — with or without Congress.”

After the convention, Walz crisscrossed the country for Harris, mostly in battleground states like Pennsylvania. He also campaigned in Wisconsin from Eau Claire to Milwaukee.

Ultimately, Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, won the popular vote and the electoral college over Walz and Harris.

“Its hard to lose, it’s hard to understand why so many of our fellow citizens, people we fought for had a hand in choosing the other path,” Walz said.

Walz returned to Minnesota and delivered his final campaign speech at Eagan High School, acknowledging the loss and vowing to get back to work as governor with a divided government in Minnesota.

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“To work with everyone, the Legislature, to seek compromise and common ground because this is how we come together after a long time fighting each other.”