CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been across the country since he was tapped as a running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris two weeks ago, but the vice presidential hopeful is preparing for what could be one of his most important speeches yet: An address to the Democratic National Convention.

With a keynote speaking slot scheduled at Chicago’s United Center on Wednesday evening, Walz will be speaking before a huge  audience, including the former presidents and presidential candidates, notable Democrats, celebrities and thousands of news media members and Democratic guests.

Ken Martin is the longest-serving chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, currently in the middle of his fifth consecutive term. He’s also serving as a vice chair of the DNC.

He said he wasn’t surprised, but was surely excited, when he learned that Walz had been called upon to run alongside Harris.

“I was just ecstatic. Governor Walz, I think, has been one of the most successful governors in the country in terms of what he’s been able to do to help improve people’s lives — the legislation he passed during the past couple legislative sessions,” Martin said. “It’s an important value for our party in Minnesota, but also certainly for the governor, that every person should have an opportunity, not just to survive, but to thrive and to get ahead.”

Although he doesn’t know exactly what Walz’s speech will consist of, Martin offered some insight as to what he expects to hear.

“I haven’t been privy to his speech at this point, so I don’t know what he’s going to say, but what you’ll probably hear is some broad themes focused on what he was able to accomplish, both in Congress and in his time as governor,” Martin said. “And again, a focus on not letting politics get in the way of good governance.”

Martin touted Walz’s ability to pass progressive policy through a one-seat majority in the state Senate (though the June resignation of Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, who is making a run for Congress, leaves the chamber evenly balanced until a November special election).

“I don’t need to recount all the different pieces of legislation … but the point being, (Walz) was really focused on helping working people and helping families get ahead instead of just getting by, and I think that’s really key,” Martin said.

More on Walz’s biography and a little bit more about who he is as a person — not just a governor — is something else Martin said those watching the DNC are likely to hear.

“He was a teacher for 20-plus years, he is a veteran, a hunter, a gun owner. He served 12 years in Congress in a tough district in southern Minnesota, he’s a small town guy, as he likes to say,” Martin said. “And probably most importantly, he’s genuine and authentic, right? … He’s more comfortable in a baseball cap and a T-shirt than a suit. He’s more comfortable in a deer stand or a fishing boat. He’s just a really down-to-earth guy.”

Martin believes that Walz’s Midwestern personality “adds a lot” to the Democratic ticket.

Delegate and Minneapolis lawyer Charlie Nauen shared many of Martin’s sentiments.

“(Walz) always speaks from his heart, he’s a genuine guy,” he said. “He leads the state with his heart and with compassion for people.”

But what Nauen is really looking forward to is an explanation about how Walz’s progressive agenda for Minnesota could be applied across the rest of the United States.

“I want to hear (Walz) talk about his vision for the United States, and how his experience in Congress for 12 years and his experience as governor for six-plus years is going to translate to helping people nationwide,” Nauen explained. “I got goosebumps just thinking about it.”

The nation’s youngest Democratic delegate — 17-year-old Isaac Winkler, of Golden Valley — said he’s looking for Walz to emphasize bringing Americans together.

“I’m hoping to hear a message of unity. I think that America needs a candidate right now that can bring people together. Regardless of anyone’s individual preference, Tim Walz and Kamala Harris can say they’ve never incited violence to protect their office and power,” Winkler said. “That’s the most important thing. They’re both very good people and they’re here for all Americans.”

It’s a message that Winkler believes Walz has been effectively communicating.

“He’s been very good at trying to reach a broad band of voters,” said Winkler, whose father is former state Rep. Ryan Winkler.

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By JOCELYN NOVECK and ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a relationship that spanned two decades, two engagements, two weddings and headlines too numerous to count, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck.

The filing Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court brought to an apparent end a celebrity coupling — or at least the second installment of it — that dazzled from the very heights of the pop culture firmament and emblazoned countless tabloid covers. They became known, even before such power-couple portmanteaus were ubiquitous, as “Bennifer.”

The filing was first reported by the TMZ website. TMZ said Lopez listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024. It added that she did not mention any prenuptial agreement.

After meeting, falling in love and getting engaged in the early 2000s — and starring together in 2003’s infamous “Gigli” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl” — the couple parted ways, blaming in part the pressure of the public eye.

But to the delight of many and perhaps the skepticism of others, they reunited two decades later and married — twice — in 2022.

“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez, announcing their first, quickie Las Vegas wedding that July, and signing off as Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

“Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with,” she wrote in her newsletter.

The couple had flown to Las Vegas, stood in line for their license with four other couples and were wed just after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel, where Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of the couple’s lives.

A month later, they had a much grander wedding at Affleck’s house in Georgia, in front of friends and family.

Both of them had been previously married. Affleck, 51, married Jennifer Garner, with whom he shares three children, in 2005. They divorced in 2018.

FILE – Actors Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck arrive for the 75th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 23, 2003. (AP Photo/Kim D. Johnson, File)

Lopez, 54, had been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001-2003. She and singer Marc Anthony were married for a decade, having wed in 2004, and share 14-year-old twins. She started dating former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in 2017, but the couple called off their engagement in 2021.

All along, it had been Lopez who was more vocal in describing her and Affleck’s journey. When asked earlier this year whether she was harder on herself because her relationships had been so high-profile, Lopez agreed.

“Oh yeah. 100%. It’s made me doubt myself and really feel bad about myself at times. Made me feel like I wanted to quit at times. But at the end of the day, I feel like you kind of have to do this thing where you learn how to navigate it,” she told The Associated Press. “You take the things that could be constructive about that and use it, and the rest you kind of just throw away as kind of like haterations or, you know, other things like that and just be like, ‘Whatever. I know who I am, I know what I want to do.’ ”

Affleck himself expressed admiration for her self-possession, telling the AP last year that he agreed with the observation that Hollywood was unsure how to capitalize on her wide-ranging talent.

FILE – Ben Affleck, left, and Jennifer Lopez appear at the premiere of their film “Gigli,” in Los Angeles on July 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Rene Macura, File)

“I think she’s in her prime,” Affleck said then. “She’s doing extraordinary work in large measure because she’s taking that step to take responsibility for what she’s doing rather than say, ‘This is what I’m being offered.’ ”

Lopez is starring in the upcoming “Unstoppable,” under Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity banner.

In May, she starred in the Netflix movie “Atlas.” At the end of the month, she suddenly canceled her 2024 North American tour, saying she was “heartsick and devastated” to be letting fans down but the move was necessary. “Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” organizers said in a statement.

The tour was to be her first in five years, in support of her first solo album in a decade, “This Is Me…. Now” and its companion film. a fictionalized look at her long love life, and a documentary.

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“When I was a girl they’d ask me what I’d be. A woman in love is what I grew up wantin’ to be,” Lopez sang on the title track.

The album, she said, was inspired by her rekindled relationship with Affleck. But the film was more “about your journey as a person, it’s about one person’s journey and what it takes to get from heartbreak back to love. Or a hopeless romantic’s journey in their search for love.” In the movie, she played a character called The Artist who, similarly, had decided as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up: “in love.”

But the road was rocky. In an early scene, The Artist is on the back of a motorcycle, riding across a beach, with a hunky man, face shielded. Then the motorcycle crashes.

“Not all love stories have a happy ending,” she says.

Jocelyn Noveck reported from New York.