On 6 August, Kamala Harris announced her running-mate for the Democratic ticket for the 5 November presidential election. The vice-presidential candidate is Tim Walz, a former school teacher from the Mid-West who has been a Representative for Minnesota and is currently in his second term as the state’s governor.
The announcement came somewhat as a surprise since Mr Walz hadn’t featured on the many media lists of potential VP picks such as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Neither his home state of Nebraska or his adopted one of Minnesota are battleground states, with the former being solidly Republican and the latter equally solidly Democrat.
But the Harris campaign clearly believes his affable, man-in-the street style and long record in elected office are positives.
Mr Average
Walz is far from being from a privileged background. His father was a school administrator and army veteran, his mother a homemaker. Walz joined the National Guard as an army reservist at 17, serving for 24 years. He worked in manufacturing jobs before going to university thanks to the G.I. Bill. He was a high-school social-studies teacher and American football coach before becoming a member of Congress for a seat in Minnesota, his wife’s home state. After 12 years in Congress, he was elected Governor of Minnesota.
As a Midwesterner, the campaign will hope he appeals to middle America more than Kamala Harris, the child of immigrants brought up in progressive California. But the Trump campaign immediately attacked him as a dangerous left-winger. The Trump campaign also attacked him for being too slow to call in the National Guard to oppose protests after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis during his first term as Governor. In his time as governor, he has brought in gun-control legislation, despite having been formerly endorsed by the National Rifle Association. Minnesota was the first state to safeguard abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade ruling. And Walz championed new paid family leave and sick pay legislation.
Harris and Walz now have three months to try to win the election. They immediately started out for battleground states, before preparing for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois starting on 19 August.
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