Kamala Harris picks Minnesota governor Tim Walz as running mate

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a progressive policy champion and a plain speaker from America's heartland to help win over rural, white voters, said people familiar with the matter.

Walz, a 60-year-old US Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, was elected to a Republican-leaning district in the US House of Representatives in 2006 and served 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018.

As governor, Walz has pushed a progressive agenda that includes free school meals, goals for tackling climate change, tax cuts for the middle class and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers.

Walz has long advocated for women's reproductive rights but also displayed a conservative bent while representing a rural district in the US House, defending agricultural interests and backing gun rights.

Harris and Walz will face Trump and his running mate JD Vance, also a military veteran from the Midwest, in a Nov. 5 election.

Stumping for Harris, sometimes in a camouflage baseball hat and T-shirt, Walz has attacked Trump and Vance as "weird," a catchy insult that has been picked up by the Harris campaign, social media and Democratic activists.

 

Reuters