EXCLUSIVE: Matt Klaber remembers the first time they met Tim Walzteacher at his high school in Mankato, Minnesota.

Klaber, now a London-based software engineer and longtime Democrat campaigner, was studying in the school library when he noticed a teacher in a hurry. He tells Deadline:

“I recognized Mr. Walz as an 11^th class geography teacher, the husband of my own journalism teacher and was walking out the door. What we found out was that he was activated in his National Guard role, responsible for natural disaster response. There was a flood in St. Paul, and he was off to lead the response to it. I remember it struck a chord with me that a person would contribute to the community in this way.”

Flash forward to the summer of 2004, and Klaber, then 19 and a recent graduate, learned that George W. Bush’s re-election campaign was rolling into town, with a rally planned at a local quarry. With two other politically minded students, he stood in line for three hours to get a ticket: “I didn’t agree with the guy (Bush), but I feel like this might be my only chance to see a sitting president , which would be great. .”

Except Klaber and his friends were turned away by organizers who told them, “No tickets, you’re not supporters.” (It’s a small town, he explains, where everyone knows everyone else and who they’re voting for.) After a call to a local newspaper and a report by a local television station, their tickets were reinstated, provided to be at its maximum. behavior but became increasingly nervous about attending the event.

Klaber recounts, “At that point, already having some problems, one of our group dropped out and we looked around to see who else we could go with. We found out that Mr. Walz was planning to leave, and we thought it would make sense if we grew up to support us.”

The students’ fears turned out to be well-founded. When their group, including Walz, arrived at the event, they were questioned once more about their reasons for attending. He recalls: “They asked for our IDs, so I took out my wallet. He had a John Kerry sticker on him, which they took as proof that they didn’t support the president, which they already knew.

“Mr. Walz was asking, ‘What’s going on?’ They are with me, they will behave. So they turn against him, saying, “Who are you? why are you with them Who do you support? He backed off, saying he was a local teacher, a National Guard command sergeant major, and that he was here to see the president.

Walz was eventually allowed to attend the event, but the two students were turned away—”They said the Secret Service had identified us as a threat to the president, which was rubbish”—and Walz continued to be confused. “The whole episode galvanized him,” Klaber reflects. “It wasn’t political at the time, but this experience changed that. It was activated just like that day in the library.”

Walz himself recalled the evening on social media, describing it as “the moment I decided to run for office.” He writes on X:

For the remainder of that year’s presidential contest, Walz and his wife ran the Democratic office for their county. Within two years, Walz made his own debut and won election as a congressman.

Klaber, who volunteered for Walz, went on to develop campaign software for Democrats in both 2008 and 2012. He was in Grant Park, Chicago, for Barack Obama’s triumph and joined the pre- inauguration both times.

Klaber moved to London in 2018, the same year Walz became governor of Minnesota. He felt that his former teacher would be Kamala Harrishis choice of runner as soon as he found out her desired criteria:

“I read that she was looking for a governing partner to support the agenda. Not to disparage the other candidates, but I knew it was him at the beginning.”

The Minnesota native was in Chicago for this year’s Democratic National Convention, where, as Walz’s guest, he checked in with fellow high school graduates. He laughs:

“We’ve always kept in touch, but this was the weirdest high school reunion ever. The next day they had friends and family at the hotel to talk.”

As for the three million American citizens living abroad, Klaber’s election vote is carried in an envelope mailed back to his home county. He plans to spend the last few days before Nov. 5 in Las Vegas volunteering in a swing state — “2020 was the first presidential election since 2000, I didn’t do something, I wasn’t going to let this be another one” — and carefully say about the result:

“Whatever happens is an incredible testament to the vice president and the governor. Three months ago, it was Trump’s to lose. The fact that it’s a close race is a ton of credit to them. Whatever the outcome, the fact that it’s this close is impressive.”

And what about Walz, a man known to his local community when Klaber first met him, but now sharing the stage for this crucial chapter in American history? Klaber is much less circumspect:

“The Tim Walz America has come to know in recent months is exactly the guy I’ve known for over 20 years.

“One of his secondary roles in high school was assistant football coach. In his first congressional runs, I ran an ad about him being a football coach, and the Harris campaign picked up on that. It made sense, because it is who he is. He is absolutely genuine, he is a happy warrior, passionate and here to help others make things better. He’s not there to win the game, he’s there to help the team win the game.”