Harris, the first black woman and first person of South Asian descent to lead a major party, said Walz had “stood up for working families” as she announced him as her 2024 vice presidential candidate.
Vice President Kamala Harris, nominated by the US Democratic Party as its candidate for the November presidential election after Joe Biden withdrew, on Tuesday chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.**
Harris said Walz “stood up for working families” in announcing him as her 2024 vice presidential candidate.
Harris and Walz will appear together in Philadelphia at an evening rally.
In choosing Mr. Walz, she is turning to a Midwestern governor, a military veteran and union supporter who helped implement an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.
Harris is hoping to bolster her campaign’s position in the Midwest, a crucial region in presidential politics that often serves as a buffer for Democrats seeking a White House berth. The party remains haunted by Republican Donald Trump’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020 but has focused on them as part of his effort to return to the presidency this year, and he is expanding his reach into Minnesota.
“All white men”
Mr. Walz, 60, joins Mr. Harris during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics, pointing to an unpredictable campaign. Republicans rallied behind Mr. Trump after his assassination attempt in July. Weeks later, President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign, forcing Ms. Harris to unite Democrats and consider potential running mates on extremely short notice.
Harris, the first black woman and first person of South Asian descent to lead a major party, initially considered nearly a dozen candidates before settling on a handful of serious suitors, all white men. In choosing Mr. Walz, she has rallied around a low-key partner who has a proven track record as a champion of Democratic causes.
Strong Harris Defender
Mr. Walz has been a vocal public defender of Ms. Harris in her campaign against Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance, calling Republicans “just weird” in an interview last month. Democrats seized on the message and have amplified it ever since.
At a fundraiser for Mr. Harris in Minneapolis on Monday, Mr. Walz said: “It was not an insult to call these men weird. It was an observation.”
Mr. Walz, who grew up in the small town of West Point, Nebraska, was a social studies teacher, football coach and union member at Mankato West High School in Minnesota before entering politics.
In 2006, he won the first of his six terms in Congress, in a largely rural district in southern Minnesota, and used his position to champion veterans’ issues. Mr. Walz served for 24 years in the Army National Guard, where he rose to the rank of sergeant major, one of the military’s highest ranks.
He ran for governor in 2018 on a “One Minnesota” ticket and won by more than 11 points.
As governor, Mr. Walz had to find ways to work, during his first term, with a legislature divided between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led Senate. But Minnesota has a tradition of divided government, and the arrangement was surprisingly productive during his first year. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit Minnesota early in his second year, and bipartisan cooperation quickly unraveled.
Mr. Walz has relied on emergency powers to lead the state’s response. Republicans have clashed with restrictions such as lockdowns, school and business closures, and have responded by firing or forcing out some of his agency heads. But Minnesotans stuck at home also got to know Mr. Walz better through the frequent afternoon briefings he held in the early days of the crisis, which were broadcast and broadcast across the state.
Mr. Walz won reelection in 2022 by nearly 8 points over his Democratic opponent, Dr. Scott Jensen, a physician and vaccine skeptic. Not only did Walz win, but Democrats retained control of the House of Representatives and flipped the Senate, winning the “trifecta” of full control of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in eight years. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which held that the Constitution does not include a right to abortion, played a big role in that. That decision hurt Minnesota Republicans, particularly among suburban women.