Atlanta, GA – August 7, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris made a historic announcement Tuesday, naming Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her choice as her choice for running mate. The statement was made during a high-energy campaign rally at the Temple University basketball arena in Philadelphia, where Harris and Walz addressed a capacity crowd of approximately 10,000 supporters.

Standing alongside Walz, Harris declared, “I stand before you today to proudly announce I am now officially the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. And so now, we have some work to do. We have to move to the general election and win that.”

Walz, who is 60 years old, has been serving as the 41st Governor of Minnesota since 2018. His background is diverse and includes notable achievements such as introducing statewide free school meals, protecting reproductive rights, expanding voting rights, making significant strides toward Minnesota’s goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2040, implementing tax cuts for the middle class, and expanding paid leave for workers.

After graduating from Chadron State College with a degree in social science in 1989, he spent a year teaching English and American history at a high school in China. He then returned to the U.S. to serve full-time in the Army National Guard and took on a high school teaching and coaching position. Walz met his future wife, Gwen Whipple, also a teacher, while teaching, and the couple moved to Mankato in 1996. In Mankato, Walz helped coach the Mankato West High School football team to its first state championship and was the faculty advisor for the Gay-Straight Alliance.

His military career is noteworthy; he served 24 years in the Army National Guard, retiring as a Command Sergeant Major in 2005. He transitioned to a political career when his students encouraged him to run for political office. Walz said, “his students saw in him what he was trying to instill in them.” He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s First Congressional District in 2006. Walz was re-elected five times, serving the district until he assumed the governorship in 2018.

The selection of Walz as Harris’s running mate is seen as a strategic move to bolster Democratic support in key Midwestern states. Harris and Walz are scheduled to embark on a campaign tour across the Midwest, starting Wednesday in Wisconsin and moving to Michigan. This tour aims to rally younger, diverse, and labor-friendly voters crucial to President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. However, recent tensions over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict have led to some divisions among these voter groups, particularly in Michigan.

The rally in Philadelphia and a previous one in Georgia underscore Harris’s ability to attract large crowds and energize her base. Yet, her upcoming challenge will be to address pressing national and international issues, including economic uncertainties and potential geopolitical conflicts, as evidenced by a recent stock market decline and rising concerns about the Middle East.

Walz’s selection is also seen as a strategic choice for Harris, hoping his appeal will help secure critical Midwestern states such as Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, one of the individuals previously considered for the running mate slot, spoke at Tuesday’s rally, expressing his support for Harris and Walz. “I love being your governor,” Shapiro said. “I am going to be working my tail off to make sure we make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next leaders of the United States of America.” He also praised Philadelphia as an ideal location to launch their campaign, calling it the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection and the birthplace of real freedom.”

As Harris and Walz prepare for the next phase of their campaign, their focus will be on unifying the Democratic base and addressing the concerns of a diverse electorate, all while navigating the complexities of a challenging political landscape. Harris said, “Our campaign, this campaign, is a fight for the future. We fight for affordable health care, we fight for a future with affordable housing, affordable childcare, and paid leave. We fight for a broad-based economy where every American has the opportunity to own a home, start a business, and build wealth. We fight for a future where we bring down prices that are still too high and lower the cost of living for American families so that they have a chance not to just get by, but to get ahead.”