News 12 is learning more about Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate from a person who has known him for decades.

Minnesota's Gov. Tim Walz may be a fresh face for most voters across the tri-state, but it’s a very familiar name to Bronxville native Suzie Nakasian.

"I'm a New Yorker. I'm skeptical, but he's a straight shooter," she says.

Nakasian now calls Minnesota home and has known and worked with the governor for decades, having served as the former chair of the Minnesota Democratic Municipal Officials Association.

"He's a great listener, very intent," she says. "My sense of him is that he knows he has his mind on what he's trying to accomplish at all times, and when you're engaging with him, he's focusing in on you and what we can do together."

Nakasian describes Walz's resume as compelling.

The governor is a former teacher, football coach and Army National Guard veteran who spent 12 years in Congress, representing a conservative-leaning rural district.

"You could split him in half and say he's half farmer and half civic leader, urban leader. Very common sense, practical, genuine, look-you-in-the-eye-and-mean-it guy," she says.

Walz still has a lot of work ahead to build a national profile.

One recent poll found that nearly nine in 10 Democrats know too little about him even to form an opinion.

Nakasian says once Walz hits the campaign trail, America is going to fall in love with him.

"When people meet Tim Walz, he will engender their trust," she says. "He's just a straight shooter."