Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, wagering that a former red-district congressman with rural roots and a progressive streak can help her win over the working-class voters in battleground states needed to beat Donald Trump in November.

In picking Walz, 60, Harris is elevating a second-term governor from a state that hasn't voted for a Republican for president in more than 50 years, someone who is relatively unknown nationally vaulting over swing state contenders such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Harris announced Walz as her pick Tuesday ahead of a tour of battleground states, starting with a rally in Philadelphia.

"As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his own," Harris said in a statement announcing Walz. "We are going to build a great partnership. We start out as underdogs but I believe together, we can win this election."

Trump's campaign quickly put out a video and a statement attacking Walz as an extremist who will double down on Harris' "radical vision for America."

"It's no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate — Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State," Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Initially seen as a second-tier candidate for the job, Walz vaulted to the top of the list after spending weeks defending Harris on the cable news circuit, going viral in the process for his off-the-cuff messaging style. He's credited with reframing the party's attack on Republicans from an existential threat to democracy to these "really weird people" for their positions on abortion and book bans.

A national Democratic audience took to Walz's blunt style and his "Minnesota nice" way of slamming Republicans, gaining supporters for the vice president job in labor unions, current and former members of Congress, progressive leaders and Gen Z activists like David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

"It is the honor of a lifetime to join Kamala Harris in this campaign," Walz posted Tuesday on X, also releasing a video of grainy footage highlighting his small-town upbringing. "I'm all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what's possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school."

Walz brings demographic balance to the ticket, and his personal and political résumé provides a contrast to Harris, a former U.S. senator and attorney general from California.

Walz grew up in rural Nebraska, enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and eventually moved to Mankato, where he taught geography and coached the high school football team. He toppled longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht in 2006 and represented a largely rural, conservative southern Minnesota district in Congress for a dozen years before running for governor in 2018.

The fast-talking, Diet Mountain Dew-drinking governor is often seen dressed down in a T-shirt and a baseball cap. He's an avid runner whose streak of thinning white hair makes him look older than his 60 years. Social media was flooded in recent days with photos and videos of Walz holding a piglet at the Minnesota State Fair, petting dogs and giving "pro-tips" on how to make quick car repairs.

"This isn't the silver-spoon candidate," said Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, adding that Walz's knowledge of the Midwest will be critical this year to help win battleground states. "He is someone who came from humble roots and he actually gets America in a way that we haven't seen."

His first term in the governor's office was tumultuous, battling dual crises in the COVID-19 pandemic and the riots and widespread damage following George Floyd's killing by a now-former Minneapolis police officer. After-action assessments found there was a breakdown in communication between government officials, including Walz.

Republicans are already attacking the Harris-Walz ticket for what happened in Minneapolis in 2020.

Minnesota GOP Party Chair David Hann said Walz is "by far the most partisan governor that we've had in my memory."

"He has been divisive in the course of his first term the way he handled COVID and the draconian measures he took and unwillingness to work with Republicans," Hann added.

Despite the criticism, Walz was handily re-elected to a second term alongside narrow Democratic majorities in the Legislature. Using a $17.5 billion budget surplus, they spent billions of dollars on schools, infrastructure and other programs while passing a long list of progressive priorities such as marijuana legalization, universal school meals, paid family and medical leave and abortion rights protections.

Walz got a boost in support for the vice presidential job from his past colleagues in Congress, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and lawmakers from the progressive flank of the party.

"The entire country is about to see why their friends from Minnesota can't stop bragging about Governor Walz," Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement, adding that Minnesota "built a model" for the nation on how to pass a Democratic agenda under Walz's leadership.

Walz's profile started to rise after that session as he touted Minnesota Democrats' progressive agenda on the national stage. He took over as chair of the Democratic Governors Association last year and campaigned on behalf of the Biden administration as a surrogate.

His star rose rapidly after Biden dropped out of the race last month, showcasing his messaging style during apparent auditions for the vice president job. He attacked Republicans for talking about the "freedom to be in your bedroom, freedom to be in your exam room, freedom to tell your kids what they can read."

"That stuff is weird," Walz said on MSNBC, messaging that the Harris campaign and other Democrats were quick to echo on the campaign trail.

In his appearances on cable news, Walz has also tried to create a contrast between himself and Trump's running mate, JD Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, criticizing Vance as a Yale-educated venture capitalist who's out of touch with working-class voters. He's called out Vance's vote against IVF protections in the Senate, telling his own story of using fertility treatments with his wife, Gwen, to conceive their two children.

The Harris campaign posted a video of the vice president calling Tuesday morning to offer the job to Walz, who picks up at home in St. Paul wearing a black T-shirt and a camouflage hat. "We're going to win and we're going to unify our country," she tells him. "Let's do it," Walz responds.

Dozens of people gathered outside Walz's residence after the news broke, hoping to catch a glimpse of the governor or his family. At one point, several black SUVS were seen entering and leaving the gated driveway. The crowd included reporters, neighbors, around a dozen bike riders and a group of eight shirtless members of the University of St. Thomas' cross-country team.

Neighbors spoke highly of Walz, saying he has been friendly and invited many of them over for a Halloween party last fall.

"We are just ecstatic for him and think he's the perfect person for the job," said Claire Stepanek, 32, who lives near the Eastcliff mansion on East River Road, where Walz is living while the governor's residence in St. Paul undergoes renovation. Eastcliff is the traditional home of the president of the University of Minnesota.

Walz will be the third Minnesotan to run on a national ticket as vice president, following Hubert H. Humphrey and Walter Mondale. Others have been vetted for the job, including former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Klobuchar, who was interviewed as a possible running mate for Biden.

"I always used to say that Minnesota moms bounced their babies on their knees and said, 'One day, you could grow up to be vice president,' because this will be our third," she joked.

Harris faced an accelerated timeline to choose her running mate after Biden's exit from the race in late July. She needed to make her vice president pick ahead of the Aug. 7 deadline to get on the ballot in Ohio.

Walz's ascension to the ticket leaves questions for Minnesota. Under the state Constitution, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become governor if Walz resigns, but he's not on the ballot in Minnesota this fall and could wait until after the November election to step down.

Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Nation, would become Minnesota's first woman and first Native American governor.

The president of the state Senate would then become the state's lieutenant governor. The state Senate is currently tied 33-33 pending a November special election to replace former state Sen. Kelly Morrison, who is running for Congress. If Democrats retain control, Senate President Bobby Joe Champion would become Minnesota's first Black lieutenant governor.

Staff writer Louis Krauss contributed to this report.