US Vice President and presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the November election, Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate
By Emma Ogbuehi (With Agency Reports)
United States (US) Vice President and presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the November election, Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate, according to CNN, which quotes multiple sources.
The selection caps the Midwestern Democrat’s short but swift ascent from a relative unknown to a leading driver of the party’s attacks on Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda. Walz is a former educator, congressman and served in the Army National Guard.
Walz spent more than two decades in the Army National Guard, which included a deployment overseas after the 9/11 attacks, working as an educator and coach, before shockingly defeating a six-term Republican incumbent congressman in 2006, a wave year for Democrats.
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Walz remained when the tide rolled out, reelected to the typically red district repeatedly until he left to run for his current job in 2018. (The seat quickly returned to GOP control after his departure.)
Walz’s six years in charge of Minnesota have seen a remarkable series of political and social upheaval. First came the Covid-19 pandemic and then, in its midst, the murder of George Floyd by a White police officer, which set off global anti-racist demonstrations. Walz navigated it all – alongside more usual complaints over wasteful spending – well enough that, by the beginning of 2023, he was leading a Democratic trifecta in the state government.
In the time leading up to his selection as Harris’ running mate, Walz had first been an outspoken defender of Joe Biden following his disastrous debate performance as calls for the president to end his reelection bid escalated. When Biden did drop out, Walz endorsed Harris the next day and has since emerged as a reliable, energetic and cutting advocate for the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Picking Walz underscores the Harris campaign’s focus on a path to victory that puts a premium on the “blue wall” states of the Midwest. Minnesota is slightly outside that sphere, but Walz, once a high school football coach, has evolved during his time in office into something of a progressive populist folk hero – the exact kind of pugilistic voice that Democrats taking on Trump are keen to highlight.
CNN reports that Walz has over the past week delivered a handful of memorable haymakers against Republicans, though his most notable contribution has been a determination to label the GOP, especially its presidential ticket of Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Walz has referred to the duo as “weird dudes,” before lighting into their political agenda.
Harris had earlier secured the nomination and will now face off with Republican candidate, Donald Trump during November elections. In attaining the feat, she earned the endorsement of the President, Joe Biden and former President, Barrack Obama.
Harris secured the Democratic nomination after receiving the majority of votes — at least 2,350 — from her party’s delegates.