This story was originally published by MinnPost, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces thoughtful, in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota.
By Ana Radelat/MinnPost
WASHINGTON — Appearing for the first time as a team in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris told a jubilant crowd new running mate Tim Walz will help her promote a message of optimism because he “believes in the extraordinary promise of America.”
“He really does shine a light on a brighter future,” Harris said of Minnesota’s two-term governor.
Walz was little known outside the state before he kicked off a very public audition to be Harris’s running mate two weeks ago.
So, Harris ran through Walz’s biography, from his early days in a small town in Nebraska to a teaching career in Mankato, service in the Army National Guard and 12 years in the U.S. House.
But it was Walz’s time as a high school football coach that prompted her to give the governor a nickname “Coach,” which she repeated often. And among other sports metaphors, Harris compared Walz to Trump running mate JD Vance as a “matchup between the varsity team and the J.V. squad.”
Meanwhile, Walz said he was thrilled to be on the ticket.
“Thank you for bringing back the joy,” Walz told Harris in his first speech as VP pick.
Walz used the opportunity to demonstrate he could be both “Minnesota nice” and an attack dog for the campaign, saying Donald Trump “mocks our laws,” “sows chaos,” and “froze in the face of Covid.”
“Violent crime was up during the presidency of Donald Trump, and that’s not even counting the crimes he committed,” Walz said to thunderous applause. (Violent crime in the U.S. did rise during the pandemic.)
And he repeated a put down that helped raise his profile with the Harris campaign.
“These guys are creepy and you know it,” Walz said of Trump and running mate J.D. Vance. “Just weird as hell.”
He ended his speech by telling supporters, “We’ve got 91 days (until November’s elections.) My God that’s easy. We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”
The Philadelphia rally kicks off a multi-state tour. Walz is scheduled to appear with Harris in coming days in each of the seven most competitive states — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Harris’ choice of Walz as a running mate was based on a number of factors, including the governor’s ties to Capitol Hill and relationship with the nation’s Democratic governors.
Harris was searching for a vice president who could be a governing partner and has executive experience and would bring demographic balance to the first major party ticket that will be headed by a woman of color.
Walz fit the bill.
But he also has other strengths. He represented a red district in southern Minnesota in Congress for a dozen years and did so, colleagues say, by the strength of personality and willingness to consider the concerns of conservative and moderate constituents when he cast his votes.
“The entire country is about to see why their friends from Minnesota can’t stop bragging about Governor Walz,” DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “By picking a servant leader born and raised in a small town who has dedicated his career to protecting freedoms and lifting up working families, Vice President Harris has chosen the perfect foil for JD Vance and his politics of resentment.”
Republicans, meanwhile, roundly criticized Harris’ choice of Walz, with the Trump-Vance campaign calling the duo a “dangerously liberal ticket.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, who is heading the Trump campaign in Minnesota, called Walz “an empty suit” in a posting on X.
“It’s not surprising @kamalaharris picked Tim Walz to be her running mate — he embodies the same disastrous economic, open-borders, and soft-on-crime policies Harris has inflicted on our country the last four years,” he said.
Minnesota GOP Chair David Hann also weighed in, saying Walz’s selection shows that the Democrats are worried about losing the state in November.
“In his first term, Walz completely failed to respond appropriately to the COVID pandemic, and he facilitated the riots in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. The city has still not recovered — businesses continue to leave and Walz’s constituents live in rampant crime,” he said.
Walz beat out other candidates, including Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Walz has deep relations on Capitol Hill which President Biden has but Harris was unable to develop during her four years in the U.S. Senate.
Related | Who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s pick for Vice President?
And Walz, once a member of the moderate wing of U.S. House Democrats, had the support from across the party’s ideological spectrum on Capitol Hill. Both members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, like Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, backed Walz’s candidacy.
One progressive, Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, was once locked into a bitter rivalry with Walz. According to U.S. House Democratic rules, lawmakers can only belong to two standing committees, but Walz, a former National Guard commander, obtained a waiver from Democratic leadership to add the House Veterans Affairs Committee to his resume.
Then Walz sought to be the top Democrat on the committee, arguing he had more seniority than Takano, who was poised to take that job as the longest-serving Democrat on the panel. A skirmish ensued.
“I had to stand my ground,” Takano said. “I thought I performed very strongly, but for the sake of unity I stepped aside.”
However, Takano said Walz included him in major decisions, including the overhaul of staff on the committee and the interviews of new staffers.
A few months into leading the committee, Walz announced he was running for governor. “That meant the spot would be vacant,” Takano said.
A progressive, Takano needed the support of moderate Democrats — a group that Walz belonged to in Congress — to persuade Democratic leaders to allow him to lead the committee after he left the U.S. Capitol for the governor’s mansion.
“He endorsed me. He told folks he had confidence in me,” Takano said. “That allowed me to amass support for the leadership of the committee.”
As far as his onetime rival, Takano now says he has “great fondness” for Walz and that the governor “is a natural” for the job of vice president.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who also served with Walz on the Veterans Affairs Committee, called Walz “the real deal” in a post on X that endorsed the governor for vice president.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, also served alongside Walz in Congress.
“I helped recruit Tim in 2006, but he was never expected to win that first race for Congress in a tough rural Republican district. He won because he and Gwen campaigned so hard, tirelessly, and Tim was always true to his values, his community, and his commitment to service,” McCollum said.
She also said Walz’s life experience as a teacher, football coach and soldier “is what he brought to Congress, along with a real Midwestern work ethic.”
“Tim knows how to work across the aisle and deliver in the halls of Congress, which is something a Harris administration will need,” McCollum said.
Head of the Democratic Governors Association, Walz has also made friends with many of the nation’s Democratic governors. He responded to their concerns over President Biden’s ability to defeat Trump by arranging a White House meeting between these governors and the president. Biden dropped his bid for reelection about two weeks later.
Rutgers University political science professor Ross Baker said Walz’s relationship with congressional lawmakers and knowledge of the way Congress works boosted his candidacy “very much,” as well as his experience as governor.
“He knows Washington and the states,” Baker said. “He’s a very experienced, very successful politician and he’s obviously a hard worker.”
Related | Analysis: Trump sees Minnesota victory in St. Cloud visit, but state remains just out of his reach
Walz was also boosted by the nation’s labor unions, who lobbied for his candidacy. Shapiro’s support of vouchers infuriated the teacher’s unions, and Kelly ran afoul of organized labor for failing to support pro-union legislation in the U.S. Senate.
On “Face the Nation” Sunday, before Harris made her decision, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Walz were the union’s two top picks for the vice presidency.
Harris selected and vetted candidates for running mate with breakneck speed. That swift decision making was governed by the desire to show unity and strength at the Democratic National Convention that begins on Aug. 19 and the rapidly approaching general election in November.
“The average search for a vice president takes 18 weeks, and she’s done it in two,” said Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections.
Walz could be third Minnesotan to serve as VP
If the Harris-Walz ticket is victorious in November, Walz would follow two Minnesotans who were accomplished vice presidents and left their mark on history — Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.
As Minneapolis mayor, just months before he was elected U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Humphrey led the opposition to his party’s tepid approach to civil rights at the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
He was successful in changing the party’s platform on civil rights, which helped elect Harry Truman as president because that attracted Black voters.
As Lyndon Johnson’s vice president, Humphrey continued to press for greater civil rights and promote Johnson’s “Great Society,” a wide-scale fight against poverty.
While Humphrey helped to found the DFL Party, Mondale was a chief party strategist. He was appointed to Humphrey’s U.S. Senate seat after Humphrey won the vice presidency, then was later selected as Jimmy Carter’s vice president.
As vice president, Mondale expanded the role from figurehead to presidential adviser, with an office in the West Wing and a home in Observatory Circle. He was the first vice president to be a full-time participant in White House affairs and was given a lead on foreign policy. As part of that, Mondale intervened to save refugees from the Vietnam War, known as “boat people,” and offer them asylum, which resulted in the resettlement of Vietnamese, Laotians, Hmong and Cambodians in Minnesota and other parts of the country.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after Harris and Walz’s Philadelphia rally.
