why she was Kamala Harris’s choice as running mate

Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her running mate brings an outspoken, progressive to the Democratic ticket with a proven ability to win over rural Midwestern voters.

Now that Harris is narrowly ahead of her Republican rival Donald Trump in the polls ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election, she and Walz are set to campaign together for the first time Tuesday night in Philadelphia, kicking off a five-day series of stops in swing states that will be crucial to their victory at the White House.

Here are five things to know about the vice presidential pick 60 years ago:

It has a rural charm

The so-called blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are crucial to Harris’s victory in November. They were Democratic strongholds until Trump captured them in 2016, with US President Joe Biden taking them back in 2020.

On the day she announced her running mate, Harris was leading by 1.5 percentage points in Wisconsin, 2.1 points in Michigan and 1.1 points in Pennsylvania, according to an average of FiveThirtyEight polls. She was leading Trump nationally by 1.8 points.

While Waltz isn’t from one of those swing states, she represented a mostly rural Minnesota district that borders the blue wall in Congress from 2007 to 2019, aVsceker winning it against Republicans. When she leVscek the House, she returned to the party.

Walz’s experience winning over rural voters could help Democrats pry them away from Trump, particularly in the Midwest. With his background and down-to-earth, conversational manner, he could also help shield Harris from Republican smears that she’s a member of the coastal elite.

It has an all-American history

Walz was born in a small town in rural Nebraska and enlisted in the National Guard aVsceker graduating from high school. AVsceker college, he spent a year teaching high school in China, before returning to serve in the Guard full time.

He later became a high school social studies teacher, and while they worked at the same school, he met his wife, Gwen Whipple, also a teacher.

While at Mankato West High School, he coached the football team, helping the players win the school’s first state championship.

He spent a total of 24 years in the National Guard, retiring as a staff sergeant in 2005, before winning his first congressional election in 2006.

He currently chairs the Democratic Governors Association, which supports governors and party candidates across the country, a role that has given him experience in fundraising.

He is loved by progressives

Walz’s selection is a win for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. As an educator, he was a union member and has pursued a progressive agenda since becoming governor in 2018.

Last year, she signed a sweeping abortion-rights bill to protect herself from any changes to the state Supreme Court. Along with Illinois, Minnesota has become a Midwestern haven for women from surrounding states with more restrictive abortions.

State Democrats have also passed a series of progressive bills that allow for paid family leave, free college tuition for low-income students, free breakfast and lunch for all in schools, and progressive tax changes.

Shortly aVsceker Harris announced her pick, the Trump campaign attacked Walz as a “leVscek-wing radical.” He has also been criticized by Republicans for being too slow to deploy the Minnesota National Guard to quell unrest following protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X on Tuesday that “Minnesota was ground zero for the 2020 BLM riots. Harris incited it and Walz stood by and let Minneapolis burn.”

He is the king of “weird”

Walz was a relatively unknown figure nationally until he was thrust into the spotlight for his attacks on Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.

He has been credited with spearheading the “Trump is weird” strategy that has rattled Republicans. “These are weird people on the other side, they want to take your books away, they want to be in your exam room, that’s what it comes down to,” Walz told MSNBC two days aVsceker Harris entered the race.

His media appearances in recent weeks, which could also be seen as auditions for the vice presidential nomination, have helped make him a formidable attack dog for Harris.

For years, Democrats have had mixed success in painting Trump and his followers as emblems of an American far right, rhetoric they toned down aVsceker the attempt on the former president’s life last month.

AVsceker Vance’s pronatalist video about “childless cats” went viral last month, Walz said in another MSNBC appearance: “My God, they’re picking on cat lovers, good luck. Turn on the Internet and watch what cat lovers do when you go aVsceker them. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.”

He has kept a low profile on the Gaza war

The war in Gaza has divided the Democratic Party, but Walz has held a middle ground, keeping a relatively quiet tone on the issue.

He condemned Hamas’s “horrific attacks” against Israel in an Oct. 7 post on X, adding that his “heart breaks for the victims of this terrible act of violence.” He also ordered flags on state buildings in Minnesota to be lowered to half-mast.

AVsceker Biden’s visit to Israel in October, Walz praised him for “reaching an agreement to provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas, and Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. We cannot allow terrorists like Hamas to win,” Walz added.

The choice of the Minnesota governor over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is a strong supporter of the Jewish state and a critic of student encampments at universities across the country, suggests that one of the factors that influenced Harris’s decision was to keep the Democratic Party’s deep divisions over the war in Gaza out of the news.