Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate in her 2024 presidential bid.
“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate,” Harris wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday morning. “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.”
On Tuesday, she and Walz are set to appear at a Philadelphia fundraiser, which will launch a tour of multiple battleground states ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from Aug. 19-22.
Ahead of her official announcement, which had been expected on Tuesday, CNN, The Hill and The Associated Press all reported, per multiple sources, that Walz would be her pick.
Harris secured enough votes from delegates to become the Democratic nominee for president via a virtual event on Friday, officially claiming the nomination when voting closed late Monday. Harris had entered the 2024 presidential race after President Joe Biden ended his own re-election bid on July 21 in a surprise announcement after weeks of calls to drop out following the 81-year-old’s poor performance in a debate against former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president.
Biden swiftly endorsed Harris to be the Democratic nominee and she quickly gained support from prominent Democratic figures like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, becoming the first woman to serve as a major party’s presidential nominee; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer; House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Senator Elizabeth Warren; and Governors Gavin Newsom, of California, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; as well as Hollywood figures like Aaron Sorkin, Barbra Streisand and George Clooney, who penned a headline-making column in The New York Times earlier in July calling on Biden to drop out and saying that the president’s condition in a recent fundraiser was similar to how he seemed in the much-maligned debate.
Harris had been considering a number of contenders to serve as her vice president should she win in November. The politicians under serious consideration, according to multiple reports, in the days leading up to her announcement, included Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper had been seen as a possible running mate but withdrew his name from consideration, it was revealed last week, due to concerns about regularly traveling out of state.
Harris was reportedly interviewing the leading contenders over the weekend, with Shapiro, Walz and Kelly considered to be the frontrunners according to various reports, including the Associated Press, NY Times and Axios.
Walz, 60, spent 12 years in the House of Representatives, where he was well-respected and forged strong relationships with fellow legislators before being elected to Minnesota governor in 2018. His characterization of Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, as “weird,” was quickly picked up by Harris and other Democrats.
The former teacher and football coach has enacted progressive legislation in Minnesota like universal school lunches and laying the groundwork to get the state to 100 percent clean energy by 2040. And he signed a law that would seemingly be appreciated by Taylor Swift fans: House File 1989 that provides more transparency and protection for people buying tickets online for concerts, sports and other live events in Minnesota, prompted by the frustration felt by a local legislator and numerous other fans, trying to buy tickets to Swift’s concerts.
Though Trump is reportedly still trying to flip Minnesota, the state went for the Democratic presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2020, so it’s less of a swing state than places like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Bernie Sanders and United Auto Workers boss Shawn Fain have also backed Walz.
Democrats moved to have their presidential candidate nominated virtually, ahead of the convention, due to an Aug. 7 deadline to ensure candidates appear on the Ohio ballot. The online voting process ends on Monday.
There will still be a state-by-state roll call at the convention, but this will be purely ceremonial.
Harris will be the first woman of color atop a major party’s ticket and, if she wins, the first female president in U.S. history.
Harris’ campaign has generated a new level of excitement for Democrats, as reflected in memes, star-studded Zooms that have seen record-breaking attendance and crowded rallies, like one in Atlanta last week, where Megan Thee Stallion stumped (and danced and rapped) for Harris. On Friday it was revealed that her campaign raised $310 million in July, more than Trump raised over the same period and giving her campaign the most cash on hand for any presidential candidate at this point in the cycle, according to the Associated Press. This comes after a number of top donors said they were withholding presidential campaign contributions in the wake of Biden’s debate performance.
Trump has selected Ohio Senator Vance as his vice presidential candidate, announcing the pick on July 15, the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and just two days after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.
Aug. 6, 7:35 a.m. Updated with Harris’ official X announcement.
