After a whirlwind month in American politics, the two teams for the biggest jobs in the land have been set.
On August 6, Democratic Presidential nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris announced that she had chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the November Presidential Election. This came one day after she officially won the Primary, without ever actually running during Primary Election season.
Timothy James Walz is in his second term as Minnesota’s 41st chief executive, first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Born in Nebraska, he enlisted in the Army National Guard after high school graduation, and would get a social science degree at Chadron State College in 1989.
After spending a year teaching abroad, he came home and became a high school teacher and football coach. While teaching, he met his future wife, Gwen Whipple, who taught at the same school.
Walz retired after 24 years in the Army National Guard with the rank of Command Sergeant Major from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005. He then transitioned to the world of politics, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and was re-elected to another five terms, serving Minnesota’s First Congressional District in Southern Minnesota.
“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 posted on X (fka Twitter)
Walz also chimed in on the same platform, posting, “It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign. 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. So, let’s get this done, folks! Join us.”
On the other side is the GOP ticket, consisting of former President Donald Trump and his VP running mate J.D. Vance. Without missing a beat, the Trump campaign team responded.
“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.
“While Walz pretends to support Americans in the Heartland, when the cameras are off, he believes that rural America is ‘mostly cows and rocks’. From proposing his own carbon-free agenda, to suggesting stricter emission standards for gas-powered cars, and embracing policies to allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is obsessed with spreading California’s dangerously liberal agenda far and wide. 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.”
The Democratic National Convention will take place on August 19-22, with Harris and Walz likely to be confirmed by a verbal acclamation vote. Meanwhile, the Presidential Election will come on November 5.
