Ending over two weeks of speculation since being named the Democratic Party frontrunner for the presidential election after President Joe Biden said he wouldn't seek a second term, Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday to be her running mate.
Reuters reported Harris announced the selection in a text message to supporters. This comes a day after Democratic electors held a roll-call vote via phone Monday to officially install Harris as the Democratic nominee. The Democratic National Convention is Aug. 19-22.
Walz, 60, served 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing a right-leaning district for many of those years, before winning the Minnesota governor's election in 2018 and re-election in 2022. He presided over the the deadly police shooting of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.
He was born in Nebraska, served in the National Guard for 24 years after enlisting in 1981, and became the highest-ranking retired enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress.
While Minnesota is not considered a battleground state, it neighbors Wisconsin and Michigan, which are considered battlegrounds. On On July 24, the chair of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign Wednesday released an overview that said the campaign will “play offense” in a series of battleground states — but the list did not include Florida.
“Winning the presidential election still requires winning 270 electoral votes, and that means our pathways to victory runs through the states,” Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in the overview. “Vice President Harris enters a tight race, but it is clear that she can bring together a coalition of voters to keep a wide set of states in play. We continue to focus on the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania."
