Democrats on Tuesday moved quickly to endorse Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as their vice presidential candidate alongside their presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Party leaders, including President Joe Biden, and figures across the Democratic political spectrum, from progressive frontrunner Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to independent U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III, a centrist from West Virginia who left the party earlier this year, have praised Walz’s achievements and character.
Republicans have generally dismissed Walz as too liberal, saying the choice shows Harris is not interested in winning over voters with middle-of-the-road views.
According to the White House, in the face of the statements arriving before noon on Tuesday, Walz received a call from Biden, the former vice president, who congratulated the Minnesota governor on his election.
“The first major decision a party nominee makes is choosing a vice president,” Biden said in tweet“And Kamala Harris made a great decision in selecting Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday morning in an interview with MSNBC that Walz is “terrific” and praised his record as the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Walz represented a swing district of southern Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019.
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama said Walz’s record in office and his character make him an excellent candidate and vice president.
“Governor Walz not only has the experience to serve as vice president, but also the values and integrity that can make us happy,” the Obamas said. he wrote.
Party unification
Walz’s appeal as a vice presidential candidate stems at least in part from his image as a honest Midwesterner.
In his statement, Manchin, who shares with Walz a history of winning elections as a rural and socially conservative Democrat, emphasized the “normalcy” of Minnesotans.
“My friend Governor Tim Walz will bring normalcy to the most chaotic political environment most of us have ever seen,” Manchin wrote. “All of the candidates were strong and any one of them would have been a great choice, but I can’t think of anyone better than Governor Walz to help bring our country together and restore balance to the Democratic Party.”
Walz also appealed to the other end of the party’s ideological spectrum, drawing on his past as governor of Minnesota.
Ocasio-Cortez referred to Walz’s support for a state law providing free meals to all public school students and expanding reproductive rights.
“Vice President Harris made an excellent decision in selecting Governor Walz as her vice presidential running mate,” Ocasio-Cortez said. he said“Together, they will govern effectively, inclusively, and boldly for the American people. And they will not back down under pressure—from health care to school lunch.”
Republican Party Response
Republican leaders, including GOP presidential and vice presidential candidates former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have said Walz’s record was too liberal.
A conversation with CNN Vance, a reporter on a campaign plane, criticized Walz’s response to the unrest following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, referencing, among other things, Harris’ 2020 tweet in which he supported the creation of a bail fund for protesters arrested after the incident.
“They’re an interesting tag team because, of course, Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020,” Vance said. “And then Kamala Harris helped get the few people who got caught out of jail.”
At the request of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Walz deployed The Minnesota National Guard quelled the unrest following Floyd’s killing, but destruction remained widespread.
The Trump-Vance campaign ran an ad that called Harris and Walz “dangerously liberal.”
“Kamala Harris just doubled down on her radical vision for America by selecting another left-wing extremist as her vice presidential candidate,” the ad begins.
Lost
Other Democrats who were on Harris’ shortlist for vice president congratulated Walz and expressed support for her candidacy.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has my enthusiastic support — and I know Governor Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the slate of candidates who will help Kamala move our country forward.” — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro he said as part of a longer written statement.
Shapiro, whose office said Monday night that he was scheduled to appear at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday that will be Walz’s first official campaign appearance, has reportedly been chosen as Walz’s second choice.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, another finalist whom Harris interviewed Sunday in Washington, praised Walz’s accomplishments as governor and in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was a colleague of Kelly’s wife, Gabby Giffords.
“Tim has many years of experience representing Minnesota both in the House of Representatives, where he served with Gabby, and as Governor of Minnesota,” Kelly wrote in an email to supporters, he tweeted through a spokesman. “He has come out time and again for working families, and I know he will continue that work in the White House.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, another potential candidate, said honored be taken into consideration.
In a post on X, he called Walz “a great friend and a great choice.”
“I fully support this new candidacy and will work to elect Kamala Harris as our next President of the United States,” he wrote.
Climate, employee groups
Several labor union and climate change advocacy groups quickly and enthusiastically supported Walz’s election.
United Autoworkers President Shawn Fain said in a statement that the union, which is key to Democrats in the key swing state of Michigan, will work to elect Harris and Walz.
“Tim Walz has been a great governor and will be a great vice president,” Fain said. “He has stood with the working class at every turn and done his part, including on the UAW picket line last fall.”
Fain said in Interview for CBS on Sunday said Walz and Beshear were his favorites for the position.
United Steelworkers International President David McCall said Tuesday that Walz, who was a union member as a public school teacher, is a defender of the working class.
“Vice President Harris could not have chosen a stronger advocate for workers as her running mate, and USW applauds her decision,” McCall wrote. “From his many years in Congress to his time as governor of Minnesota, Governor Walz has fought for working families at every turn. As a former union teacher, he enacted some of the most important pro-worker reforms in our country’s history.”
Davie Kieve, president of EDF Action, the political arm of the Environmental Defense Fund, called Walz “a proven leader and climate advocate.”
Although Walz, like Harris, will be 60 on Election Day, he has been endorsed by groups representing teenage voters.
Sunrise Movement, a youth-led far-left climate group that has kept the Biden administration at bay, endorsed Walz in a statement from communications director Stevie O’Hanlon, who called Walz an “excellent choice” and highlighted Walz’s efforts to pass legislation that would allow Minnesota to transition to 100% pristine energy by 2040.
“As governor, Tim Walz has made tremendous progress on the climate crisis,” O’Hanlon wrote. “He has done so by presenting climate action as a way to improve people’s daily lives, create good-paying green jobs, and invest in strengthening communities. That’s a winning message that the Democratic nominee should put at the forefront of his platform.”
One group that supported Walz when he represented his rural district in the U.S. House of Representatives criticized the choice.
On Twitter, the National Rifle Association said Walz would be a “disaster for our gun rights.”
“Tim Walz is a political chameleon — he changes his positions to advance his own political agenda,” Randy Kozuch, chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund, the group’s political action committee, said in a statement.
The NRA gave Walz, who has professed a love of hunting, an “A” rating as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. But Walz began supporting stricter gun laws when he ran for governor in 2018, following the February shooting at Parkland High School in Florida. As governor, he signed several gun-control bills.
Members of the Chamber
Members and former members of the House Democratic caucus heaped praise on their former colleague.
Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke described Walz as a great friend and an effective legislator who could reach across party lines.
“I met Tim Walz on my first day in Congress and sat next to him on the Veterans Affairs Committee for the next six years,” O’Rourke wrote. on X“Nobody has fought harder for veterans. And he did it by uniting Democrats and Republicans to get the job done.”
Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Walz was an “invaluable” member of the faction.
“Governor Walz’s work ethic has helped him become a pragmatic, effective leader in the House,” Hoyer said in a statement. “His candid, common-sense approach to governing has allowed him to champion veterans and Minnesotans. I know he will bring that same dedication and compassion to the vice presidency.”
