Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her Democratic working mate for the 2024 presidential election. The 2 are scheduled to look collectively later within the day Tuesday in Philadelphia.
“Tim is a battle-tested chief who has an unimaginable monitor document of getting issues accomplished for Minnesota households,” Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, wrote in a marketing campaign message blasted out to supporters. “I do know that he’ll deliver that very same principled management to our marketing campaign, and to the workplace of the vice chairman.”
Walz, 60, confirmed that he had accepted the place in a social media put up, nodding to his decades-long profession as a highschool trainer: “I am all in. Vice President Harris is displaying us the politics of what is doable. It jogs my memory a little bit of the primary day of college.”
President Joe Biden, who previously helmed the Democratic ticket, endorsed Harris’ decide on Tuesday. He has been watching the marketing campaign from the sidelines ever since dropping out of the race in late July, following his disastrous June debate efficiency in opposition to Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“The Harris-Walz ticket might be a strong voice for working individuals and America’s nice center class,” Biden wrote in a put up on X. “It is time for all Democrats—and certainly all Individuals—dedicated to freedom, democracy, and American management on the planet to rally behind the Harris-Walz ticket.”
Biden and Harris spoke on the telephone Tuesday morning earlier than she formally introduced Walz because the decide, in line with a White Home spokesperson. The president additionally congratulated the Minnesota governor on being tapped.
Walz up to now two weeks has been on a brief checklist for the vice presidential candidate spot, together with fellow Democratic rising stars Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Harris made calls to the contenders who weren’t chosen Tuesday morning, a supply advised NBC Information.
US President Joe Biden speaks with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz earlier than boarding Marine One at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, on November 1, 2023, as he returns to the White Home.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | Afp | Getty Photos
Shapiro, who was reportedly the second-most probably decide, put out an announcement in an effort to be a superb sport concerning the Harris marketing campaign’s selection.
“Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally sturdy addition to the ticket who will assist Kamala transfer our nation ahead,” Shapiro mentioned. “Pennsylvanians elected me to a four-year time period as their Governor, and my work right here is way from completed.”
Shapiro is scheduled to ship remarks on the Harris-Walz rally in Philadelphia.
Walz’s fast rise
Walz, Minnesota’s two-term governor, started the veepstakes course of with comparatively low identify recognition nationally. However his profile shortly rose because of media appearances, and Walz gained over skeptics together with his affable Midwestern demeanor and his biography.
Walz nonetheless must introduce himself to many citizens over the following 91 days. An NPR/PBS/Marist ballot printed Tuesday discovered that 71% of respondents mentioned that they had by no means heard of Walz, or didn’t have an opinion of him.
Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz speaks to reporters after assembly with US President Joe Biden on the White Home in Washington, DC, July 3, 2024.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Photos
This comparatively low identify recognition is also an asset to Harris, nevertheless. It forces the Trump marketing campaign to spend valuable time and sources racing in opposition to the Harris marketing campaign to be first to outline Walz within the eyes of voters.
Inside minutes of formally saying Walz as Harris’ working mate, the marketing campaign went reside with a webpage titled “Meet Governor Tim Walz” to assist voters get acquainted with the brand new identify on the Democratic ticket.
What Walz is up in opposition to
Harris and Walz will face the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.
The Trump marketing campaign has already begun setting up a battalion of assaults in opposition to Walz, accusing him of supporting “open border” insurance policies and “defunding the police,” in addition to different spin trying to painting the Harris-Walz ticket as radically left of middle.
“Identical to Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is each American’s nightmare,” Trump marketing campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt mentioned in an announcement.
However a key Democratic king maker was fast to push again.
“To characterize him as left is simply so unreal,” former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) mentioned on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday morning. “He is proper down the center. He is a heartland of America Democrat.”
Walz’s resume
Walz was born within the small city of West Level, Nebraska, and joined the Military Nationwide Guard after graduating from highschool in Butte, Nebraska.
He later labored as a highschool trainer for a number of a long time, throughout which he coached soccer and was a school advisor for the varsity’s gay-straight alliance.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Worldwide Airport in Saint Paul, Minnesota, March 14, 2024.
Stephen Maturen | Afp | Getty Photos
He gained election to the U.S. Home of Representatives in 2006, the place he served six phrases, and was elected Minnesota’s governor in 2018. Walz is the one particular person on each the Democratic and Republican tickets who served within the Home.
Harris’ considering
Harris turned the de facto Democratic nominee two weeks in the past, after Biden exited the race and endorsed her.
Harris’ marketing campaign has since been on a turbocharged timeline to pivot the Democratic ticket, together with a extremely accelerated vetting course of for potential working mates.
As Harris whittled down her quick checklist over the weekend, she met in particular person with Walz, Shapiro and Kelly, a supply acquainted with the conferences advised NBC Information.
To make her final resolution, the vice chairman was searching for a governing companion she had chemistry with and will envision working properly with for the following 4 to eight years, sources acquainted with Harris’ course of advised NBC Information.
She wished somebody who wouldn’t undermine her management, might doubtlessly broaden the Democratic map and who might deftly deal with GOP assaults.
Walz provides Harris connections to Capitol Hill, a possible attraction to rural voters, a document of progressive coverage victories, and well-sharpened media expertise.
