Kamala Harris Names Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Running Mate

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Kamala Harris Names Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Running Mate

Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, with a formal announcement scheduled for Tuesday evening. Harris, who was officially confirmed as the Democratic Party nominee on Monday night after a virtual vote by party delegates, is now expected to use Walz’s Midwestern background to compete for swing state voters with Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance.

Walz, 60, spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, followed by a 10-year stint in Congress representing a rural district in southern Minnesota. He launched his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018 and has served two terms since then. Initially positioning himself as a moderate, Walz has overseen a sweeping progressive agenda that has moved his state firmly to the left.

In addition to legislation giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, legalizing recreational marijuana, expanding abortion access, and authorizing gender transitions for children, Walz was also governor during the violent George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020, which began in his state. The protests resulted in at least two deaths and $500 million in damages to the city, and Walz earned criticism from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said the governor had deliberately waited to deploy the National Guard.

Walz has also been criticized for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included forcing schools and businesses to close and allowing a stimulus scheme called Feeding Out Future to defraud government relief programs to the tune of $250 million.

Nevertheless, Walz remains a popular governor in his home state, winning his first election by a double-digit margin with more votes than Hillary Clinton won in the state in 2016. Following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, Walz was one of the first Democrats to support Harris as his replacement. He is also one of the primary voices responsible for the Democrats’ “Republicans are weird” narrative that has taken hold in the media.

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