Kamala Harris chooses VP running mate; Tim Walz selected

WASHINGTON — Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris has chosen her running mate.

Harris selected Gov. Tim Walz to join her on the ticket for the Nov. 5 election.

The shortlist of potential vice presidential candidates included Walz, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, The Associated Press reported.

Shapiro said of the decision, “My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for our Commonwealth. Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump.”

Harris, who secured the party’s nomination Monday night, is scheduled to hold a rally in Philadelphia Tuesday evening. Walz is expected to join her as is Shapiro.

Who is Gov. Tim Walz?

Walz was born in rural Nebraska.

Walz was considered a moderate Democrat when he served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then became governor of Minnesota in 2019 and is the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Forbes reported.

The publication said Walz is a “working-class politician with a rural background” and is “someone with a lived experience that is so comparable to so many of the people in rural America,” North Dakota Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp told The New York Times recently.

Walz graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska, earning a social science degree in 1989, according to his official biography. He was a teacher, starting his career at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and eventually, taught in China and Mankato, Minnesota. He also served in the Army National Guard after graduating high school. He retired after 24 years in the National Guard at the rank of Command Sergeant Major in the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005.

Walz got his feet wet in the political world as a member of Sen. John Kerry’s presidential run in 2004.

The governor has made sure that state universities can participate in providing tuition-free meals to students, abortion rights were protected by state law, banning conversation therapy and protecting gender-affirming healthcare, Forbes reported. When he was criticized by Republicans about his accomplishments, he jokingly fired back, saying on CNN , “What a monster! Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn and women are making their own healthcare decisions.” He also expanded voter rights in his state to 55,000 formerly jailed Minnesotans. He also handled the COVID-19 pandemic and protests that occurred after the death of George Floyd, Forbes reported.

Walz has pledged to get Minnesota to adopt 100% clean energy by 2040, cut taxes for the middle class and expanded paid leave for workers, according to his official biography on the Minnesota state website.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement after Walz’s selection. Karoline Leavitt, Trump Campaign Press Secretary, said “It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State. While Walz pretends to support Americans in the Heartland, when the cameras are off, he believes that rural America is ‘mostly cows and rocks’. From proposing his own carbon-free agenda, to suggesting stricter emission standards for gas-powered cars, and embracing policies to allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide. If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare.”

Walz is married to Gwen, whom he met at the Pine Ridge school where they both taught. The couple has two children — Hope and Gus, according to Newsweek.

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