Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a progressive policy champion and plain speaker from America’s heartland to help win over rural, white voters. Harris announced the selection in a text message to supporters.
“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate,” she said. “Tim is a battle-tested leader with an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign and to the office of the vice president.”
Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, expressed his honor to join Harris on the ticket. “I’m all in,” Walz said on X, formerly Twitter. “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”
Walz was elected to a Republican-leaning district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and served 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018. As governor, Walz has pushed a progressive agenda, including free school meals, climate change goals, middle-class tax cuts, and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers. He has long advocated for women’s reproductive rights but also defended agricultural interests and backed gun rights while representing a rural district.
Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, adds a popular Midwestern politician whose home state votes reliably for Democrats in presidential elections but is close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial battlegrounds. These states are seen as critical in deciding the Nov. 5 election, and Walz is skilled at connecting with white, rural voters who have broadly supported Republican Donald Trump, Harris’ rival for the White House.
Harris chose Walz over Josh Shapiro, the popular governor of Pennsylvania, who had been seen as helpful in delivering his crucial battleground state. Harris, 59, became the Democratic Party’s standard bearer after President Joe Biden, 81, ended his reelection campaign under party pressure last month. Since then, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and recast the race against Trump with a boost of energy from her party’s base.
Harris and Walz are expected to appear together at an event in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. They will face Trump and his running mate JD Vance, also a military veteran from the Midwest, in the November election.
