PHILADELPHIA — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz isn’t a well-known figure outside his home state of Minnesota.
So just hours after Vice President Kamala Harris selected Waltz, a former congressman and two-term governor, as her running mate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024, Harris’ campaign quickly began promoting him.
Harris’ bio has been published on social media platforms including Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and her campaign has put the governor in the spotlight in a new video.
And the vice president and Mr. Walz are in Pennsylvania’s largest city on Tuesday night to begin campaigning in a key battleground state that could determine the outcome of the 2024 race between former President Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
Vice President Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate
The arena scoreboard at the Liacoras Center, site of the first rally for Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Waltz, Minnesota Governor, on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
A new poll conducted by Marist College for NPR and the PBS NewsHour found that 7 in 10 Americans didn’t know enough about the governor to form an opinion, so Walz needed to be introduced.
Asked why she chose Waltz over fellow leading contenders Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, or Mark Kelly, senator of Arizona, Ms. Harris gushed as she boarded Air Force Two for Philadelphia, where Mr. Shapiro is expected to speak. “Waltz would be a great vice president.”
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Harris’ campaign boasted on Tuesday afternoon that it had raised more than $10 million from grassroots supporters just hours after the vice president announced her running mate, making it “one of the biggest fundraising days of the race this season.”
“We’re going to have to make sure that we’re doing the right thing,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters at the White House after meeting with President Biden on July 3, 2024, along with other Democratic governors. (Reuters/Elisabeth Franz)
The nomination of Walz, 60, was not a shock because his name was expected to be quickly floated as a contender just 16 days after Harris became president of the party after succeeding President Biden.
Walz, a former high school teacher and coach who spent nearly a quarter century in the National Guard, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 and re-elected five times, representing Minnesota’s largely rural 1st Congressional District in southern Minnesota.
The inclusion of the outspoken Waltz on the national list of candidates would not only give Harris an edge in Minnesota, a Democratic state that Trump’s campaign is hoping to flip this year’s presidential election, but also give the vice president an edge in the Midwestern battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
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The governor would also be able to tout a number of progressive policy victories in Minnesota, including abortion rights protections, legalizing recreational marijuana and restricting gun access to curb mass shootings. And Walz’s nomination, rather than more moderate Democrats like Shapiro or Kelly, will please the party’s progressive wing.
“As a governor, coach, teacher and veteran, he has dedicated his life to serving working families like his own,” Harris said in announcing the selection.
Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland on August 6, 2024. Harris was in Philadelphia campaigning after announcing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. (Photo by Brendan Smiarowski/Pool/AFP) (Photo by Brendan Smiarowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“One of the things that really struck me about Tim is how deeply he believes in fighting for middle-class families,” Harris said.
“It’s personal,” she emphasized. “He grew up in small town Nebraska and worked on his family’s farm in the summers. When he was 19, his father died of cancer and the family relied on Social Security survivor benefits to make ends meet. He enlisted in the National Guard at 17 and served for 24 years. He used GI Bill benefits to go to college and become a teacher.”
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This was a stark contrast to the position taken by the Trump campaign, which immediately targeted Waltz.
“Kamala Harris has doubled down on her radical vision for America by nominating another left-wing extremist as her running mate,” the hosts charged in a new Trump campaign video. “Tim Waltz will be an endorsement of Kamala Harris’ dangerous liberal policies.”
Republican vice presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance criticized Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at a Trump campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
And in Philadelphia, hours before the Democratic candidate arrived, Vance called Walz’s record as governor a “travesty” and argued that Walz is “one of the most far-left extremists at any level in the entirety of the United States government.”
Vance has been shadowing Harris and Walz at smaller events this week as they hold rallies in key battleground states.
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