Harris picks Walz for VP running mate: sources

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be her running mate, choosing a plain speaker from the US heartland to help win over rural white voters, people familiar with the matter say.

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 supporting gun rights.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is adding a popular midwestern politician whose home state votes reliably for Democrats in presidential elections but is close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial battlegrounds.

Such states are seen as crucial in deciding this year’s election, and Walz is widely seen as skilled at connecting with rural voters who in recent years have voted broadly for the Republican Donald Trump, Harris’ rival for the White House.

The Harris campaign hopes Walz’s extensive National Guard career, coupled with a successful run as a high school football coach, and his Dad joke videos will attract such voters who are not yet dedicated to a second Trump term in the White House.

Harris, 59, has revived the Democratic Party’s hopes of an election victory since becoming its candidate after President Joe Biden, 81, ended his failing re-election bid under party pressure on July 21.

Walz was a relative unknown across the US until the Harris “veepstakes” heated up but his profile has since emerged.

A popular member of Congress, he reportedly had the backing of powerful former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was instrumental in persuading Biden to leave the race.

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

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