Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate.
Harris sent a text message to supporters announcing the selection and also presented Walz at a rally in Philadelphia.
Walz, a progressive policy champion and plain speaker from America’s heartland, was chosen to help Harris win over rural, white voters in the November election.
He brings a record of defeating Republicans in a Midwestern state and has pushed a progressive agenda as governor, including free school meals, climate change goals, and expanded paid leave.
Walz, a veteran of the US Army National Guard, has also displayed a conservative bent while representing a rural district in the US House, defending agricultural interests and backing gun rights.
The Republican campaign quickly responded, slamming Walz as a “left-wing radical” and “dangerously liberal extremist.”
Walz previously criticized Republican nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as “weird,” a label adopted by the Harris campaign and Democratic activists.
