VP Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate -- here, on the right, Walz speaks at a ceremony declaring the end of veteran homelessness, Nov. 9, 2021, in St. Cloud.
© Zach Dwyer / © Richard Burkhart/USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Philadelphia, PA) – Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate as she continues her push for the White House. Multiple sources now say the 60-year-old Democrat has been picked as Harris’ nominee for vice president. Harris also reportedly considered Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
There will be a campaign event held tonight in Philadelphia allowing Harris to introduce Walz. He’s been governor of the North Star State since 2018, and was re-elected in 2022. Minnesota has gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon carried the state. That said, it is considered by some to be a battleground state — especially since the George Floyd riots in 2020 enacted an especially hard toll on Minneapolis and its surrounding areas.
Walz was instrumental in advancing Minnesota’s legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. Conversational in Mandarin, he taught English in China in 1989, according to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. The newspaper also notes that Walz is neither a drinker of alcohol or coffee. He got a DWI in 1995 in Nebraska and apparently quit drinking afterward. Walz, who is supposedly well-known for always being on time according to the Star-Tribune, has one drink he always enjoys: Diet Mountain Dew.
