Vice President Harris announced on Tuesday that she has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (Democrat) as her running mate to face former President Trump in November.
Harris announced her choice of Walz in an Instagram post and in a text message to supporters, praising his support for middle-class families and his record of serving in the National Guard and as a teacher.
“I share this biography not only because it’s incredible in itself, but also because it clearly shows how it impacts his track record,” Harris wrote on Instagram.
“But what impresses me most about Tim is his deep devotion to his family, Gwen, Gus and Hope,” she added, referring to Waltz’s wife and children. “Doug and I look forward to working with him and Gwen to build an administration that reflects the values we share.”
“We are going to have a great partnership,” Harris wrote. “We are going to make a great team. We are going to win this election.”
While the early stages of the vice presidential race have been dominated by talk of other big names, notably Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D), Walz, 60, has emerged as a dark horse contender in the number two spot.
But the Minnesota governor has seen a significant increase in his profile over the past week, especially after he made headlines by deriding Republicans as “wackos” in a cable news interview — a line of attack later adopted by the Democratic National Committee.
His selection caps a hectic two-week period in which President Biden wrapped up his reelection effort, Harris solidified her party’s support as the presumptive nominee and the vice presidential team scrambled to vet candidates to join her in November.
The selection drew praise from both progressive and moderate Democrats.
“Vice President Harris made an incredible decision to select Governor Walz as her running mate,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wrote in a post on social platform X. “Together, they will govern effectively, comprehensively, and boldly for the American people. From health care to school lunches, they will never back down when the going gets tough.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), the first House Democrat to call for Biden’s resignation, described Walz as “a solid, decent former colleague with a good sense of humor, a former teacher and military veteran who represented a district in Minnesota that is normally represented by Republicans.”
“You can’t go wrong with no-nonsense Tim,” Doggett wrote on X. “As governor, he will provide the candid, compassionate leadership we need to deliver the progress we need.”
Harris had not yet decided on a running mate as of Monday night, withholding her decision until the final hour.
Waltz was also seen by many as a safer choice for Harris because of his liberal bona fides and the condemnation some of the other candidates have received from parts of the left. Shapiro has come under heavy criticism recently for his handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Israeli-Hamas war, and both he and Kelly have drawn the ire of labor union leaders.
Adding to Walz’s appeal is the fact that he hails from a Midwestern state that Trump is increasingly trying to flip. Biden won Minnesota by 7 points in 2020, and even though no Republican presidential candidate has won the state in more than 50 years, Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, have stepped up their campaign there.
But he is not without weaknesses: Republicans are likely to use his policy positions on abortion and LGBTQ issues to paint him as a radical liberal, just as they have done with Harris.
Walz served as Minnesota governor during the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and Republicans will undoubtedly highlight images from that tumultuous time. The Trump campaign previously attacked Harris for promoting a bail fund for protesters arrested in Minnesota after Floyd’s death.
“It’s no surprise that San Francisco liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast native Tim Walz as her running mate. During his time as governor, Walz has worked to remake Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement.
“From proposing his own carbon-free policy, to proposing tougher emissions standards for gasoline vehicles, to supporting policies that would allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is hell-bent on spreading California’s dangerously liberal policies far and wide,” she added. “If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will. Like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Waltz California Dream is every American’s nightmare.”
Harris and Walz will be blasting through battleground states this week, starting in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. The pair are scheduled to visit Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada later this week. Planned trips to North Carolina and Georgia have reportedly been postponed as Hurricane Debbie makes landfall in the Southeast.
This article was originally published at 8:51 a.m. ET.
