Kamala Harris reportedly chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as VP running mate

2 months ago

It comes shortly before Harris is likely to become her party’s official presidential nominee.

By Lauren Feiner, a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.

Aug 6, 2024, 1:22 PM UTC

Graphic photo collage of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election, according to multiple news outlets including The New York Times. The news follows weeks of speculation during an accelerated campaign since President Joe Biden ended his candidacy and endorsed his VP for the role.

The choice comes weeks before the Democratic National Convention and just ahead of a virtual roll call vote where Harris is expected to become the party’s official nominee. Harris will appear in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her VP pick — now expected to be Walz — later today.

Walz, a former educator from a blue state, is seen as having appeal with Midwest voters and effectively shifted Democrats’ messaging about Trump and his running mate JD Vance to that of how “weird” they are. He’s cited paid family and medical leave as top issues for a Harris administration.

As governor in Minnesota, Walz has signed one of the broadest right-to-repair laws to date, struck down rules blocking municipal broadband, and accepted $120 million in funding through Biden’s CHIPS Act to fund domestic semiconductor manufacturing. He’s gotten on the bandwagon of popular issues like ticket cost transparency, signing a “Taylor Swift bill” earlier this year, though he also vetoed pay raises for rideshare drivers while supporting efforts to keep Lyft and Uber in the state.

Several candidates were rumored to be on the short list for Harris’ consideration based on factors that could expand the Democratic ticket’s appeal to swing voters, particularly in battleground states. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly were seen as potential choices from battleground states, though that brought fears that should Harris get elected, it may be harder to win those seats again in the absence of a popular incumbent. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was also said to be in the mix, as a Democrat who’s been able to secure a top seat in a deep red state. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was also a popular name in Democratic circles, but she said she was not “part of the vetting” for the role.

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