Kamala Harris, the Democratic Presidential candidate in the US 2024 election selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.

Harris disclosed the choice in a text message to supporters. She said,
“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate. Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president.”

Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, said he was honored to join Harris on the ticket.
“I’m all in,” Walz said on X. “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”

Walz was elected into the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and served 12 years before being elected Governor of Minnesota in 2018. As governor, Walz has pressed for 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.

The Governor has long championed for women’s reproductive rights but also showed a conservative bent while representing a rural district in the U.S. House, defending agricultural interests and backing 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 critical in deciding the Nov. 5 election, and Walz is widely seen as skilled at connecting with white, rural voters who in recent years have voted broadly for Republican Donald Trump, Harris’ rival for the White House.

Recall Harris, 59, emerged the Democratic Party’s nominee after President Joe Biden, 81, pulled out from the Presidential race due to pressure from his party as a result of his poor performance in a debate with Donald Trump. Since then, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and recast the race against Trump with a boost of energy from her party’s base. Harris and Walz will face Trump and his running mate JD Vance, also a military veteran from the Midwest, in the November election.

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