Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of the state of Minnesota, as her vice presidential candidate on Tuesday, it was learned independently AP and the CNN. Later, Harris also announced his choice on X:
Harris was recently only a vice-presidential candidate himself, but with the withdrawal of Joe Biden, he became his party’s presidential candidate (to which the formal nod will be given at the Democratic convention between August 19-22). After his post on X, Walz is expected to present himself as his candidate live at Tuesday night’s rally in Philadelphia.
Although Walz was in the top 3 in the last few days, who insiders might have expected to become Harris’s candidate, but Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro seemed to be the main contender. According to CNN, Harris went to bed the night before without knowing who he would vote for in the morning, so he could not leak the candidate’s name. Harris’s first campaign trip after choosing his future deputy leads to Philadelphia, for this campaign event the Democrats printed several posters and molinos with the names of potential candidates, so that the venue would not have to be decorated suddenly.
In our previous article, we wrote about Walz, governor of the state of Minnesota, former congressman, retired teacher. As governor, he ordered the National Guard to Minneapolis to help quell the riots that broke out after the death of George Floyd. The 60-year-old politician previously represented a rural district and also served in the army, including the National Guard, so he has a good chance of appealing to the more conservative voters of the northern rust belt. In this way, he can counter the Republican mantra that a possible Harris administration would be extremely liberal (nevertheless, this is exactly what the right began to attack Walz after Harris’ election was revealed).
Governor Joe Biden defended the president after his poor debate performance, but as soon as Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential candidate, he immediately assured her of his support.
All this is shown by the fact that Walz previously represented a district in the US House of Representatives, which is considered conservative, before and after it was won by Republicans. The candidate is serving his second term as governor, and also leads the Association of Democratic Governors. In recent weeks, he gained fame by calling Donald Trump and his vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, “weird dudes” – this also made him famous on social media (in the CNN video below, he himself talks about “weirding By the way, according to CNN, Harris’ staff also has a good opinion of him, and they are waiting for him to join the campaign.
A quick path to the vice presidential candidate
After the botched first presidential debate, Joe Biden faced increasingly vocal internal opposition in the Democratic Party, many asked him to step down due to his age and mental state, and on July 21 he announced that he would not be the Democratic presidential candidate. Biden immediately named his vice president, Kamala Harris, as his successor. Within a week, the majority of the Democratic party elite stood behind Harris, and finally Barack and Michelle Obama, who had been waiting for a long time, assured him of their support.
The delegates who formally decided on the presidential candidate (the votes of the delegates predominantly won by Biden during the primaries were freed by his withdrawal) already voted virtually for Harris at the end of last week, who obtained the necessary support for the candidacy. The Democrats’ presidential candidacy is only on August 19-22. will become final at the nomination meeting held in Chicago between There, the vice-presidential candidate and then Harris, who accepted the candidacy, will also give a speech on the last two days.
After it quickly became clear that Harris will not have a challenger for the presidential nomination, there has been speculation for weeks about who the presidential candidate will choose as his vice presidential candidate.
It is not set in stone for every party when it will announce its vice presidential candidate, even in the case of Donald Trump, there was a long wait, and finally JD Vance was announced on the first day of the Republican convention. At the end of the week, however, sources already indicated that Harris will soon be able to announce his chosen one, with whom, starting on August 6, he will embark on a multi-day campaign tour in the most important battleground states for the November 5 presidential election. It also turned out that the announcement will come on Tuesday.
Who were the other contenders?
As we wrote in our previous analysis article, although the political science literature according to the person of the vice-president does not greatly influence the outcome of the presidential election (a possible effect, the so-called home state effectet except, according to which the vice president in his own state helps the president to achieve a better result – although the latest research already shows this effect questioned), the vice-presidential candidate is definitely important from the point of view that he can complement the messages of the presidential candidate, can show direction regarding the expected governance of the president, and his launch can also be an excellent springboard for a later presidential campaign of his own.
Previously, the most popular names were Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, but the names of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg, who had previously flirted with the presidential candidacy, also came up.
A New York Magazine he wrote about, Harris and lawyers thoroughly chewed through the backgrounds of potential candidates, their limited popularity data, and other documents. Shapiro’s name came up in advance because the big campaign kick-off would be held in his state, including Philadelphia – the state is one of the most important battleground states.
These are the ones that the presidential candidates of both parties have a chance to get, the difference between them is so small. That is why many suspected that the vice-presidential candidate could come from such a swing state, strengthening the Democratic chances there. In any case, according to NY Mag, Harris likes to make decisions based on conversations, and harmony with his colleague is important to him.
