WASHINGTON —
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz as her running mate, three people familiar with the decision said Tuesday, after a whirlwind vetting process that began just two weeks ago when she suddenly became the presumptive presidential nominee.
Harris’ campaign planned to make the formal announcement via video message before the two appeared at an evening rally in Philadelphia.
The decision marks another milestone in the short period since the vice president moved to the front of the Democratic ticket following Joe Biden’s decision on July 21 to drop out of the race. Since then, she has tried to build a campaign and breathe new life into the Democratic race against Republican Donald Trump. Harris secured the formal nomination yesterday.
In choosing Waltz, 60, she is turning to a Midwestern governor, a war veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state that includes broad abortion rights protections and generous aid to families.
Harris is hoping to shore up her campaign’s standing across the Midwest, a vital area in presidential politics that often serves as a buffer for Democrats seeking the White House. The party remains beset by Trump’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020 but has focused on them in his bid to reclaim the presidency this year, and is expanding his focus on Minnesota.
Waltz joins Harris in one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics, which promises an unpredictable campaign. Republicans rallied around Trump after his assassination attempt in July. Just weeks later, Biden ended his reelection campaign, forcing Harris to unify Democrats and consider potential running mates in an all-too-short time frame.
The three people familiar with the decision spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been made public.
Kamala Harris
(Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)
Harris, the first Black woman and woman of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket, initially considered about a dozen candidates before narrowing in on a handful of serious contenders, all of whom were white men. In settling on Waltz, she aligned herself with a low-profile running mate who has proven himself a champion of Democratic causes.
Waltz has made a strong public defense of Harris in her campaign against Trump and Vance, calling Republicans “just weird” in an interview last month. Democrats have since picked up on the message and amplified it.
At a fundraiser for Harris on Monday in Minneapolis, Waltz said: “Calling those guys weird was not a slur. It was an observation.”
Waltz, who grew up in the small town of West Point, Nebraska, was a social studies teacher, football coach and union member at Mankato West High School in Minnesota before entering politics.
He won the first of his six terms in Congress in 2006 in a largely rural southern Minnesota district and used his position to champion veterans issues. Waltz was a 24-year member of the Army National Guard, rising to the rank of command sergeant major, one of the highest in the Army.
He ran for governor in 2018 on the “One Minnesota” theme and won by more than 11 points.
