Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP running mate
Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her vice presidential running mate, four sources tell CBS News, tapping a Midwestern Democrat to join her on the ticket heading into November's election.
News of the pick comes two weeks after President Biden ended his reelection campaign, prompting the Democratic Party to quickly coalesce around the vice president. The vice president confirmed her selection of Walz with a post on social media, debuting for the first time the Harris-Walz ticket.
"We are going to build a great partnership. We are going to build a great team. We are going to win this election," she wrote.
Harris highlighted Walz's background and record as governor of Minnesota, including signing legislation to provide paid family and medical leave for families in the state, protecting the right to abortion after the reversal of Roe v. Wade and enactment of legislation requiring universal background checks for gun purchases.
"As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his," she wrote on X.
A source familiar with Harris' conversation with Walz said she told him that they're the underdogs in the race, and there is a lot of work to do.
Harris and Walz will campaign in all seven battleground states in the coming days, beginning with an appearance in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Walz's first event as Harris' running mate.
"It is the honor of a lifetime to join [Kamala Harris] in this campaign. I'm all in," the governor wrote on social media. "Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what's possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let's get this done, folks!"
Walz will officially receive Secret Service detail once he lands in Philadelphia, sources familiar with the situation tell CBS News.
What does Walz bring to the Harris ticket?
Walz — who has a background representing rural communities and enacting Democratic priorities — was part of a deep bench of potential running mates that included Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Walz, the popular two-term governor of Minnesota, could help Harris shore up support in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — Midwestern "blue wall" states that have historically supported Democrats but went for Donald Trump in the 2016 election before Mr. Biden took them back in 2020. The three battleground states are likely pivotal to Harris' ability to win the White House in November.
When Trump knocked down parts of the blue wall eight years ago, Minnesota remained Democratic by a narrow margin. The state hasn't voted for a Republican since 1972.
A person close to the selection process said Walz was chosen as Harris' running mate in part because of his executive experience as governor of Minnesota, which includes policy achievements on gun safety, abortion and paid leave, as well as his background. Walz served in the National Guard and coached football and is a hunter and gun owner. The person also cited his rapport with Harris and his ability to be a governing partner as vice president.
Walz recently said he expected it would be a close presidential race in Minnesota, though he predicted Trump would lose for a third time. Trump has boasted about potentially winning the state while campaigning there in recent months.
In a signal that his stock was rising in the veepstakes, Harris' campaign recently began echoing an attack line first used by Walz, who called Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, "weird."
JD Vance's response to Walz
Vice presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance said Harris' selection of Walz "highlights just how radical Kamala Harris is."
"This is a person who listened to the Hamas wing of her own party in selecting a nominee," he said of Harris. "This is a guy who's proposed shipping more manufacturing jobs to China, who wants to make the American people more reliant on garbage energy instead of good, American energy, and has proposed defunding the police just as Kamala Harris does," Vance told reporters Tuesday. He also said he tried calling Walz and left a voicemail congratulating him.
Liberal and conservative Democrats praise Walz as VP pick
Independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who caucuses with Democrats, warmly welcomed Walz's selection, predicting in a statement that he "will bring normality back to the most chaotic political environment that most of us have ever seen" and he could "think of no one better than Governor Walz to help bring our country closer together and bring balance back to the Democratic Party."
And on the far left, fellow Minnesotan and Rep. Ilhan Omar posted on X that Walz would be "Bringing Minnesota nice to the ticket."
What is Walz's background?
Walz, a 60-year-old Nebraska native, enlisted in the Army National Guard after high school and served for 24 years with both domestic and overseas deployments. He spent a year teaching high school in China after graduating from Chadron State College in 1989. When he returned to the U.S., he taught high school in Nebraska before moving to his wife's home state of Minnesota in 1996. There, Walz taught social studies at Mankato West High School and coached the football team.
He and his wife, Gwen, have two children, Hope and Gus. The governor revealed earlier this year that the couple underwent fertility treatments for seven years before having their children, and said his daughter's name was a nod to their experience.
His political career began in 2006, when he was elected to the House of Representatives to represent a primarily rural district bordering Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin. He served in Congress until 2019, when he became Minnesota's governor. He was reelected to the position in 2022.
Walz faced intense criticism from Republicans during his first term as governor over his handling of the pandemic and the violent protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
With Democrats controlling both chambers of the state legislature during his second term, Walz has enacted a number of Democratic priorities, including the protection of abortion access and gender-affirming health care, legalizing recreational marijuana, restricting gun access, providing free school meals to all kids and expanding paid family leave.
If Harris and Walz win the White House, he would become the third vice president from Minnesota, after Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.