Nick Frentz, a Democratic state senator from Minnesota, is coming to the defense of vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as he faces claims regarding his leadership and criticism over state policy.

Several Republican state lawmakers told Fox that Walz was “difficult” to work with during their time working alongside him in the legislature.

Frentz, who currently represents the city of North Mankato, painted a different picture, telling Fox News Digital that in his experience, Walz is “very straightforward and very easy to work with.”

“He was a high school teacher and football coach in the ’90s when he started his family in Mankato. He’s genuine, down to earth. He’s honest. He’s the kind of person that you can enjoy,” Frentz said in an exclusive interview. “His rural roots are real, and his commitment to everybody in the country, including rural America, is quite real. And I think his record says that.”

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“We’ve passed legislation that’s had bipartisan support. We haven’t always agreed and so, if ‘difficult’ to work with means we don’t always agree, then I guess. But I think a better description would be he’s a Democrat governor in a state that leans Democrat, and while both Democrats and Republicans haven’t got what they wanted, I think the state as a whole has done very well,” he said. 

Frentz also countered claims that Walz leans heavily to the left, a charge brought forth by Minnesota GOP Chair David Hann, who branded Walz as “far from a moderate,” and the Trump campaign, which has labeled Walz a “radical.”

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“We support biofuels — very important to our agriculture economy. He’s been a leader on that. We’ve supported water infrastructure that small towns and rural areas need very badly. And we support a tax policy, including cuts to Social Security taxes. So all of those things show a commitment to greater Minnesota. And as he used to say, ‘I don’t just represent greater Minnesota. I wake up there,’” said Frentz.

The governor has also been heavily criticized for his handling of the 2020 riots that saw several local businesses burned down and the Third Precinct police station abandoned after the murder of George Floyd. 

“What I criticize is that half the people that were arrested were not from the Twin Cities metro area,” Frentz said. “Every state leader has to stand for the proposition that Americans have the freedom to peaceably assemble. But it ends when they start doing damage to property. And I think Gov. Walz felt that way, too.”

Walz has “the right voice” for “not simply supporting policies and legislation that help rural America, but also opposing things that are not good for rural America,” he said.

“I have never heard him say a bad word about southern Minnesotans, whether they vote Republican or Democrat,” Frentz added. “I think that’s exactly the kind of leadership the country needs. ‘All in it together’ doesn’t mean we don’t disagree, but I’d want people to know this is someone who has visited farms with us, someone who has talked about rural issues, someone who cares about the agriculture, economy, and someone who is not just talking about it, but has passed bills and those bills that are in the interest of rural America.”