Kamala Harris taps Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for VP
NEW YORK — Kamala Harris has picked Tim Walz as her Democratic vice presidential running mate — according to multiple reports citing unnamed sources — as she seeks to build on a remarkable surge of enthusiasm in her run for a history-making White House win.
The popular Minnesota governor could give Harris a critical edge across the battleground Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which would be the easiest path for Democrats to reach 270 electoral votes.
The pick tees up the fall election pitting Harris and Walz against former President Trump and his vice presidential sidekick JD Vance.
Walz, 60, was once seen a dark horse for the No. 2 spot and burst out of the veepstakes pack in recent days on the back of waves of enthusiasm from the Democratic base.
A folksy Midwest native with an edge, Walz famously coined the “weird” attack on Vance that has helped boost fundraising and polling numbers since Harris launched her campaign just two weeks ago.
He’s a former teacher and high school football coach from a town of just 400 people, making him a valuable mouthpiece as Democrats compete for votes in rural areas and small towns and cities across middle America.
Even though Minnesota isn’t considered a swing state in the presidential race, Walz has successfully competed for Republican and independent voters and has led an impressive transformation of Minnesota into a Democratic bastion in recent years.
Walz is very popular with liberals, but doesn’t appear to have any major enemies in the party, which could help Harris continue her remarkable consolidation of her support heading into the Democratic National Convention and into the fall campaign.
Harris and the newly minted vice presidential pick will head to Philadelphia to kick off a weeklong blitz of seven battleground states that will likely pick the next president.
The ticket will then head for Wisconsin and Michigan, the other Rust Belt swing states before barnstorming through the Sun Belt.
The Democratic tag team hopes to keep Harris surging in the polls, which show pulling roughly even with Trump since President Biden stepped down from the race last month and handed her the baton.
Walz won the nod over several other veepstakes finalists including Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
All of the short list candidates were white men from the Midwest or other battleground states, highlighting the perceived need to balance the ticket led by Harris, who is vying to become the first Black woman president.
