Vice President Kamala Harris selected progressive Minnesota governor Tim Walz on Tuesday to be her running mate for her 2024 presidential campaign, a move meant to placate the far-left faction of her party and appeal to the midwesterners Harris needs to win in November.
Harris is expected to announce her selection, which was first reported by CNN and confirmed by the Associated Press, with a video posted on social media ahead of her campaign rally in Philadelphia. The Tuesday evening rally is expected to be the largest of her presidential run thus far.
Walz and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro were the two remaining finalists for Harris’s vice presidential nod after Senator Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Kentucky governor Andy Beshear (D) fell out of contention.
A Marine veteran and former teacher, Walz began his political career with a narrow victory over a Republican incumbent in a 2006 congressional race. He won reelection five times and became a reliably liberal Democratic member.
In 2018, Walz won the Minnesota gubernatorial election, and four years later comfortably held the seat after overseeing race riots sparked by the death of George Floyd. Minnesota Democrats secured a legislative trifecta in 2022, and Walz subsequently signed progressive legislation on issues ranging from abortion and guns to school lunches and noncompete agreements.
Republicans will likely highlight Walz’s progressive record and the fraud scandals the Minnesota government has suffered under his watch. They will also point out that, as Minnesota governor, Walz presided over the destructive George Floyd riots of 2020, which led to the ransacking of a police precinct and widespread looting and property damage.
By selecting Walz over Shapiro, Harris is hoping the progressive wing of the Democratic party will continue backing her candidacy as she quietly walks back the radical stances she took four years ago, when she lurched to the left for a short-lived presidential run.
Shapiro, a Jew, would have received major backlash from progressives for his support for Israel’s war against Hamas. While his position on the war itself is mainstream among establishment Democrats, he did condemn antisemitic protests on college campuses and volunteered for a non-combat role with the IDF when he was in college.
Walz, by contrast, has spoken sympathetically about the left-wing anti-Israel protests that have become a fixture across America since Hamas slaughtered 1,200 civilians and took 250 hostages on October 7th.
Last night, Walz fundraised for Harris in Minneapolis alongside other Democratic party leaders, auditioning for the vice presidential nomination and lavishing Harris with praise. He will now be joining Harris on a swing-state campaign tour after she officially secured the Democratic nomination with 99 percent of the party’s delegates voting for her virtually.
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