published at 14:00
14:00
BREAKING
Kamala Harris has picked Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, as her running mate in the US presidential election, US media have reported.
Who is Tim Walz
Tim Walz is Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential pick – though she has not made a formal announcement.
So who is he?
Before being elected as Minnesota’s governor in 2018, Walz was known as a battle-tested Democrat who served 12 years in Congress.
He has gained national attention for his strategy of calling Donald Trump and JD Vance “weird”.
The phrase caught on with a number of Democrats – including Harris.
“He’s just a strange, weird dude,” Walz said of Trump during a fundraising event.
His plainspoken and small-town Midwestern persona could appeal to independent and conservative voters.
The 60-year-old led Minnesota through the 2020 protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
He deployed the National Guard to help quell riots that broke out during the demonstrations.
Mr Walz served more than 20 years in the Army National Guard, taught high school and also worked as an assistant football coach.
Minnesota is arguably less of a swing state, but would be a valuable asset for Harris.
Why Kamala picked Walz
In my 25 years covering US politics, the only time a VP pick has made a clear difference to the final election result was in 2008 when Sarah Palin dragged down John McCain’s ticket.
Walz has strategic value: Democratic governors like him (that helps with money and campaigning), he comes from the Midwest, and his army background helps with white, rural voters.
But this appears as much a pick about personality as politics.
He is known for being cheerful and optimistic (check out his fun, quirky social media posts) and, in the end, politics is as much about people as anything.
If the two candidates get on well, that will matter – especially when times get tough on the campaign trail.
Few people had Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on their early lists of possible Kamala Harris vice-presidential picks, but US media now reports that he will be on the Democratic ticket.
The former high-school teacher and football coach won attention among Democrats for his affable style and ability to land rhetorical blows on Donald Trump without seeming too aggressive.
The “weird” label he applied to the former president and his running mate became a Democratic mantra in just a matter of days – and it is now a standard part of Harris’s stump speech.
While Minnesota isn’t a battleground state, the Harris campaign may hope that Walz has mid-western cross-border appeal in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, which will help decide this election.
Walz also has a record of enacting progressive legislation in his state while defending it in a way that moderates and independent voters can understand. In his prior job as a congressman, he was able to win in a district that has a significant number of rural and Republican voters.
The governor may not have been a household name among Democrats a few weeks ago, but sometimes the dark horse wins the race.
