Gov Tim Walz Is Kamala Harris’s Choice for Vice President

Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, elevating a former football coach whose rural roots, liberal policies, and buzzy takedowns of former President Donald Trump have recently put him on the map. Gov Walz emerged from a field of candidates who had better name recognition and more politically advantageous home states. Minnesota is not a top-tier presidential battleground and is unlikely to prove critical to a Harris-Walz victory. But he jumped to the top of Harris’s list in a matter of days, helped by cable news appearances in which he declared that Republicans were “weird.” The new, clear articulation of why voters should reject Trump caught on fast and turned the spotlight on the plain-spoken Midwesterner behind it. Gov Walz was thought to be someone who could match up well in a debate against Senator JD Vance (R-OH), whom Trump chose as his running mate. And after two weeks of vetting and deliberations, Vice President Harris connected best with Gov Walz in comparison with the other choices. Over and over in the selection process, loyalty had been emphasized as one of the most important criteria for Vice President Harris. This suggests that Gov Walz convinced her he would support her not only in winning but also in helping her govern. Gov Walz is in his second term as governor and spent 12 years in Congress, where he was the rare Midwestern Democrat representing a largely rural district. He served for 24 years in the Army National Guard and taught high school social studies in Mankato (MN) before entering politics. While his background was tailor-made for moderate voters, his policies as governor have been firmly liberal, reflecting what his allies call “prairie populism.”