Likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has picked a Great Lakes governor to be her running mate, choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, she announced Tuesday morning.
Walz, a former U.S. Representative from Minnesota, has been governor since 2019, winning twice. He is a former high school social studies teacher and football coach.
Harris makes a campaign visit to Detroit on Thursday and Walz may join her, according to media reports.
Harris, in an Instagram post, lauded Walz’ background as a high school teacher and football coach who was from a small town; he grew up in Nebraska.
“One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep,” Harris wrote in the post. “It’s personal.”
Walz became a darling of the Democratic Party in recent weeks when he criticized Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, his choice for running mate, JD Vance, and their policy proposals as being “weird.”
His folksy manner — he grew up in a small town and graduated high school in a class of 25 — allowed him to win elections in a Republican-leaning congressional district, a district that Trump won handily in 2016. And he has been clear that his criticisms of Trump do not extend to his supporters.
“And ‘weird’ is specific to him,” Walz said in a podcast with New York Times opinion writer Ezra Klein. “I’m certainly not talking about Republicans. I’m not talking about the people who are at those rallies.”
As governor, he worked with other Great Lakes governors, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, on campaigns in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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