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- Kamala Harris selects Minnesota governor Tim Walz as running mate
Kamala Harris selects Minnesota governor Tim Walz as running mate
The Harris campaign hopes Walz will help undecided voters not certain they want another Trump term in the White House
US Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.
Waltz, 60 years old, served in the US military and was a former educator. Since 2019, he has been the 41st governor of Minnesota – before that, he was a congressman from 2007 to 2019.
He was born in West Point, Nebraska, joined the National Guard and worked in agriculture, manufacturing, and teaching after high school. Later, he completed his studies at Chadron State College in Nebraska before moving to Minnesota in 1996. In 2018, he defeated Republican candidate and Hennepin County Representative Jeff Johnson. He was re-elected in 2022, defeating the Republican candidate Scott Jensen.
Regarding his views on Israel, Walz condemned Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 and ordered flags throughout Minnesota to be lowered to half mast in the days following the attack. After the Democratic presidential primaries in Minnesota in 2024, in which 19 percent of voters voted "uncommitted," Walz took a supportive stance towards those doing so to protest US President Joe Biden's handling of the war in Gaza, and called them "civically engaged."
He voiced support for protesters voicing criticism of the US funding of the war in Gaza.
"These are voters that are deeply concerned, as we all are," he said in a CNN interview. "The situation in Gaza is intolerable, and I think trying to find a lasting, two state solution, certainly the president’s move towards humanitarian aid and asking us to get to a cease-fire, that’s what they’re asking, to be heard. That’s what they should be doing. We’ve gone through this before. We know that now, we make sure, we’ve got eight months. We start bringing these folks back in. We listen to what they’re saying. That’s a healthy thing that’s happening here."
"Take them seriously. Their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more, and I think the president is hearing that," he added.
Walz pushed a progressive agenda that includes free meals at school, dealing with climate changes, tax cuts for the middle class, and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers. Walz has long advocated for women's rights, but also demonstrated a conservative tendency while representing a rural district in the US House of Representatives, defended agricultural interests and supported gun rights. Walz is perceived as skilled in building connections with rural white voters, who in recent years have largely voted for former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump, Harris's rival for the White House.
The Harris campaign hopes that the extensive career of Walz in the National Guard, along with a successful run as a high school football coach, not to mention his videos where he cracks "dad jokes," will attract voters who have not yet committed to a second term of Trump in the White House. He was relatively unknown in the U.S until the race for Harris's running mate heated up, and his profile has risen since then. According to the reports, as a popular congressman, he received the backing of former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was an integral part in persuading Biden to leave the race.
When Walz appeared in campaign advertisements for Harris, he wore a baseball cap and a jersey, attacking Trump and his running mate JD Vance, calling him "weird," a catchy insult that caught on in the Harris campaign, on social media, and among Democratic activists.