Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, passing over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to join her at the top of the ticket.
“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked Tim Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team,” Harris said.
A native of Nebraska, Walz served in the Minnesota National Guard and worked as a school teacher before spending more than a decade in Congress representing Minnesota’s First Congressional District. He was elected to his first term as governor in November 2018 and won reelection in 2022.
With slim majorities in the Minnesota Legislature, including just a one-seat majority in the state Senate, Gov. Walz and his Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party passed a progressive wishlist of bills into law during the 2023 session, including the establishment of a “fundamental right” to abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, declaring Minnesota a “refuge” for children seeking sex changes, providing health care and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, and much more.
The 2023 session made Walz something of a hero to the progressive left, but he also comes with a record marked by the George Floyd riots and a massive fraud scandal.
“This is the image that defines Tim Walz. During the Floyd riots, he allowed a mob of thugs to burn a police station to the ground right in the middle of Minneapolis. Everything you need to know about him can be seen here. A thousand words, as they say,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh said.
This is the image that defines Tim Walz. During the Floyd riots, he allowed a mob of thugs to burn a police station to the ground right in the middle of Minneapolis. Everything you need to know about him can be seen here. A thousand words, as they say. pic.twitter.com/5L0qzCy0d6
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 6, 2024
Walz’s administration oversaw the largest case of pandemic fraud in the country, with over 60 Minnesotans having been charged in the $250 million scheme. A recent state audit said the Walz administration “failed to act on warning signs” to prevent the fraud.
Walz’s military record also came under scrutiny during his gubernatorial runs as multiple former command sergeant majors claimed Walz “let his soldiers down” by avoiding a deployment to Iraq in 2005 before running for Congress.
🚨THREAD: WHO IS TIM WALZ?
We've been covering the Minnesota governor and potential Kamala Harris running mate since he was elected in 2018.
Here's what we know:
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) July 25, 2024
“Why should we be quiet? He uses the military to promote himself when he abandoned his soldiers,” Doug Julin, a retired command sergeant major, told Alpha News in 2022. “He let the soldiers down. How can you be entrusted to be the governor of Minnesota when if something is not to your liking, you quit or you serve yourself and not others?”
In a statement posted on X, Walz called it the “honor of a lifetime” to join Harris on the Democratic ticket. If Walz is elected vice president, his lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, would become the first female governor in state history.
“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 press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
