A new profile of Tim Walz’ financial disclosures in the Washington Post reveals the Governor of Minnesota is a college-educated, white-collar professional, but also just upper-middle class. Of all the books and articles I have read over the years about the influence of money in politics, none has stuck with me as much as Nick Carnes‘ on white-collar government. His point is simple and intuitive: We are unlikely to get policies that address the needs of every day Americans if only millionaires and people who have never worked a blue collar job are in Congress. Walz risks being under-appreciated as a small step in the right direction.

For the curious and by way of comparison, here is information on the national median income and and median income in Minnesota–strikingly similar. And in case you are wondering how many millionaires there are in Congress: Well it would be a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.