US vice president Kamala Harris on Tuesday picked Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate for the upcoming presidential elections, Reuters reported.
Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate and her running mate Walz will face Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance on November 5.
A US Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, 60-year-old Walz was elected to a Republican-leaning district in the US House of Representatives in 2006. He served 12 years before being elected as the governor of Minnesota in 2018.
Harris has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination days after incumbent president Joe Biden opted out of the presidential race. She is expected to ceremoniously accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month, after which she can be certified on state ballots.
In his statement, Biden had said,”It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
According to a Reuters report, Tim Walz is known to have pushed agenda including free school meals, goals for tackling climate change, tax cuts for the middle class and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers.
Harris is adding Walz, a Midwestern politician whose home state votes for Democrats in presidential elections but is close to battleground states Wisconsin and Michigan.
Walz is known to be skilled in connecting with white, rural voters who in recent years have voted broadly for the Republican Donald Trump.
The Harris campaign is hoping for 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.
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