Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential race, as she aims to gain ground against former President Donald Trump with just over three months until the November election.
Harris announced her decision in an Instagram post Tuesday, shortly after several news outlets reported the choice. Praising Walz’s “convictions on fighting for middle class families,” Harris emphasized her admiration for his “deep commitment to his family.”
Walz accepted the offer Tuesday morning, calling it the “honor of a lifetime.” He added, “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”
The 60-year-old father of two and Nebraska-born governor had emerged as a frontrunner for the vice presidential spot, along with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, in the weeks leading up to the decision. Harris’s campaign reportedly vetted about a dozen contenders, ultimately narrowing the list to Walz and Shapiro before making the announcement Tuesday. This followed Democratic delegates concluding voting for the party’s nominee Monday, with 99% selecting Harris.
Walz, though not a major figure in national politics, has established himself as a moderate Democrat. He served as a representative for Minnesota from 2007 to 2019 and has been the governor of Minnesota since 2019. He also serves as chair of the National Democratic Governors Association.
Seen as an appealing option for independents and moderate Democrats, Walz is described as a working-class politician with a rural background. Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., told The New York Times that he appears to have “a lived experience that is so comparable to so many of the people in rural America.”
Before his political career, Walz graduated from Chadron State College in Nebraska, served in the Army National Guard, and worked as a teacher. He taught on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he met his wife Gwen, and later in China and Mankato, Minnesota.
Walz’s political career began with his involvement in former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. He joined the campaign after some of his high school students were questioned for displaying a Kerry sticker at a rally for then-president George W. Bush, as reported by MinnPost.
As governor, Walz has achieved several political accomplishments, including ensuring tuition-free meals at participating state universities, enshrining abortion rights into state law, banning conversion therapy, and providing protections for gender-affirming healthcare. Defending these measures against right-wing criticism in a recent CNN interview, he joked, “What a monster! Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn and women are making their own healthcare decisions.”
Additionally, Walz signed a bill last May expanding voting rights in Minnesota for an estimated 55,000 formerly incarcerated residents. He also oversaw the state’s response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the police brutality protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020, although he faced criticism from state Republicans over his delayed response to the protests.
