This article first appeared on MinnPost and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, The Associated Press and CNN reported Tuesday morning.
She was expected to make the announcement later in the day before the two appeared together at a Philadelphia rally.
Harris’ choice of Walz as a running mate was based on a number of factors, including the governor’s ties to Capitol Hill and relationship with the nation’s Democratic governors.
Harris was searching for a vice president who could be a governing partner and has executive experience and would bring demographic balance to the first major party ticket that will be headed by a woman of color.
Walz fit the bill.
But he also has other strengths. He represented a red district in southern Minnesota in Congress for a dozen years and did so, colleagues say, by the strength of personality and willingness to consider the concerns of conservative and moderate constituents when he cast his votes.
Walz beat out other candidates, including Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Walz has deep relations on Capitol Hill which President Biden has but Harris was unable to develop during her four years in the U.S. Senate.
And Walz, once a member of the moderate wing of U.S. House Democrats, had the support from across the party’s ideological spectrum on Capitol Hill. Both members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, like Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, backed Walz’s candidacy.
One progressive, Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, was once locked into a bitter rivalry with Walz. According to U.S. House Democratic rules, lawmakers can only belong to two standing committees, but Walz, a former National Guard commander, obtained a waiver from Democratic leadership to add the House Veterans Affairs Committee to his resume.
Then Walz sought to be the top Democrat on the committee, arguing he had more seniority than Takano, who was poised to take that job as the longest-serving Democrat on the panel. A skirmish ensued.
“I had to stand my ground,” Takano said. “I thought I performed very strongly, but for the sake of unity I stepped aside.”
However, Takano said Walz included him in major decisions, including the overhaul of staff on the committee and the interviews of new staffers.
A few months into leading the committee, Walz announced he was running for governor. “That meant the spot would be vacant,” Takano said.
A progressive, Takano needed the support of moderate Democrats — a group that Walz belonged to in Congress — to persuade Democratic leaders to allow him to lead the committee after he left the U.S. Capitol for the governor’s mansion.
“He endorsed me. He told folks he had confidence in me,” Takano said. “That allowed me to amass support for the leadership of the committee.”
As far as his onetime rival, Takano now says he has “great fondness” for Walz and that the governor “is a natural” for the job of vice president.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who also served with Walz on the Veterans Affairs Committee, called Walz “the real deal” in a post on X that endorsed the governor for vice president.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, also served alongside Walz in Congress.
“I helped recruit Tim in 2006, but he was never expected to win that first race for Congress in a tough rural Republican district. He won because he and Gwen campaigned so hard, tirelessly, and Tim was always true to his values, his community, and his commitment to service,” McCollum said.
She also said Walz’s life experience as a teacher, football coach and soldier “is what he brought to Congress, along with a real Midwestern work ethic.”
“Tim knows how to work across the aisle and deliver in the halls of Congress, which is something a Harris administration will need,” McCollum said.
Head of the Democratic Governors Association, Walz has also made friends with many of the nation’s Democratic governors. He responded to their concerns over President Biden’s ability to defeat Donald Trump by arranging a White House meeting between these governors and the president. Biden dropped his bid for reelection about two weeks later.
Rutgers University political science professor Ross Baker said Walz’s relationship with congressional lawmakers and knowledge of the way Congress works boosted his candidacy “very much,” as well as his experience as governor.
“He knows Washington and the states,” Baker said. “He’s a very experienced, very successful politician and he’s obviously a hard worker.”
Walz was also boosted by the nation’s labor unions, who lobbied for his candidacy. Shapiro’s support of vouchers infuriated the teacher’s unions, and Kelly ran afoul of organized labor for failing to support pro-union legislation in the U.S. Senate.
On Face the Nation Sunday, before Harris made her decision, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Walz were the union’s two top picks for the vice presidency.
Harris selected and vetted candidates for running mate with breakneck speed. That swift decision making was governed by the desire to show unity and strength at the Democratic National Convention that begins on Aug. 19 and the rapidly approaching general election in November.
“The average search for a vice president takes 18 weeks, and she’s done it in two,” said Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections.
Walz could be 3rd Minnesotan to serve as VP
If the Harris-Walz ticket is victorious in November, Walz would follow two Minnesotans who were accomplished vice presidents and left their mark on history — Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.
As Minneapolis mayor, just months before he was elected U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Humphrey led the opposition to his party’s tepid approach to civil rights at the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
He was successful in changing the party’s platform on civil rights, which helped elect Harry Truman as president because that attracted Black voters.
As Lyndon Johnson’s vice president, Humphrey continued to press for greater civil rights and promote Johnson’s “Great Society,” a wide-scale fight against poverty.
While Humphrey helped to found the DFL Party, Mondale was a chief party strategist. He was appointed to Humphrey’s U.S. Senate seat after Humphrey won the vice presidency, then was later selected as Jimmy Carter’s vice president.
As vice president, Mondale expanded the role from figurehead to presidential adviser, with an office in the West Wing and a home in Observatory Circle. He was the first vice president to be a full-time participant in White House affairs and was given a lead on foreign policy. As part of that, Mondale intervened to save refugees from the Vietnam War, known as “boat people,” and offer them asylum, which resulted in the resettlement of Vietnamese, Laotians, Hmong and Cambodians in Minnesota and other parts of the country.
Editor's note: This story will be updated.