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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced the governor of Minnesota as her running mate for the Nov. 5 general election, capping a dayslong high-stakes selection process ahead of her tour through seven battleground states this week.
Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz, a former six-term lawmaker and educator, to be on the national ticket as she is set to begin a five-day tour to the swing states on the day to boost her electoral chances amid a tight race against former President and Republican standard-bearer Donald Trump.
“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work,” she added.
The Midwestern governor said that he is “all in” for the campaign.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign,” he wrote on X. “I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the po
litics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”
The announcement ended days of grueling considerations over finalists’ impact on her campaign and the electoral map as well as their chemistry with Harris. The finalists included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.
Though other finalists had a stronger competitive edge, like a battleground advantage, Walz is known to be a loyalist to the Biden-Harris administration, with his folksy demeanor, progressive policy records and other records expected to help Harris’ campaign.
Walz, a plain-spoken politician, got into the spotlight when he described Trump and other Republicans as “weird” in recent media appearances. That expression has been popularized in political discourse both online and offline during this election cycle.
Walz was first elected the state’s governor in 2018 and won reelection in 2022. He served as a congressman representing Minnesota’s first district from 2007 through 2019. He previously ser
ved in the Army National Guard and worked as a public school teacher and football coach.
During his time as governor, he made a range of achievements, including providing universal free school meals for students, protecting reproductive freedom, cutting taxes for the middle class and expanding paid leave for Minnesota workers, according to his office’s website.
Trump’s campaign criticized Walz as a “dangerously liberal extremist,” reports said.
Harris’ veepstakes had raised concerns about fissures within the party as donors, different wings of the party and others called for their preferred candidates to be on the national ticket at a time when Harris sought unity to rally her party ranks and supporters behind her.
In a virtual five-day roll call vote that ended Monday, Harris received 99 percent of delegate votes to officially clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. The vote was arranged ahead of the Democratic National Convention set for Aug. 19-22, because of Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline for parties t
o submit the names of their candidates.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
