Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Volz as her vice presidential running mate in the hope that the heartland progressive will help her win over rural, white voters.
Harris announced the decision in a text message to supporters.
"I am pleased to announce my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Volz will join our campaign as my running mate. Tim is a battle-tested leader who has done incredible things for Minnesota families. And I know he will bring principled leadership and to our campaign and the position of vice president."
Volc, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former high school geography teacher, said he was honored to join Kamala Harris on the list.
"I'm totally into this. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of the possible. It reminds me a little of the first day of school," he wrote on the Iks platform.
Volz was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 from a Republican-leaning district and served 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018. In that position, he pushed a progressive agenda that includes free school meals, fighting climate change, tax cuts for middle class and expanded paid leave for Minnesota workers.
Volz has long advocated for women's reproductive rights, but has also shown conservative leanings while representing a rural district in the House of Representatives, defending the interests of farmers and gun rights, Reuters reports.
Volz called Trump and Vance "weird," a catch-all insult picked up by the Harris campaign, social media and Democratic activists
Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, chose a popular Midwestern politician whose home state votes Democratic in presidential elections but is close to Wisconsin and Michigan, two key battleground states.
Such states are seen as key to deciding the Nov. 5 election, and Volz is seen as adept at connecting with white, rural voters who have voted heavily in recent years for Donald Trump, Harris' rival in the race for the White House.
Harris chose Volz over Josh Shapiro, the popular governor of Pennsylvania, who was thought to be helpful in winning his key state.
Harisova (59) became the holder of the list of the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden (81) ended his candidacy for re-election last month under pressure from the party. Since then, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and reinvigorated the race against Trump while boosting energy from her party's base.
"The Harris-Waltz team will be a strong voice for working and middle-class America. They will be the strongest defenders of our personal freedoms and our democracy. And they will ensure that America continues to lead the world and play its role as an irreplaceable nation," Biden said.
Harris and Walz will face Trump and his running mate JD Vance, also a Midwestern military veteran, in the November election.
Trump, reacting to the nomination of Volz, assessed that he will be "the worst vice president in history, even worse than the dangerously liberal and corrupt Kamala Harris." "They will start hell on earth, open the borders to the worst possible criminals, approve Kamala's green card scam and throw away trillions of dollars," he said.
Volz's tenure as governor was marked by the May 2020 killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a white Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murder. The scenes of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of an African-American man, who then died, exposed a deeper discontent and sparked protests over strained race relations in the US and abroad.
Al Sharpton, a renowned human rights activist, said Volz heard the calls for justice for Floyd by choosing the state attorney general to handle the case. The policeman was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
"That's when I realized he was a man who would listen and do what was right for those he represented," Sharpton said. "We can count on Governor Volz to take the same kind of open approach as Vice President Kamala Harris."
Trump campaign officials have tried to portray Volz as a radical leftist whose values are out of touch with most Americans.
Volz called Trump and Vance "weird," a catch-all insult picked up by the Harris campaign, social media and Democratic activists.
He also attacked claims by Trump and Vance that they have ties to the middle class.
"They keep talking about the middle class. One real estate robber baron and one venture capitalist trying to tell us they understand us? They don't know who we are," Volz said in an interview with MSNBC.
Such an approach resonated with young voters whom Harisova needs to engage again.
Harris' campaign is hoping that Volz's long career in the National Guard, along with a successful stint as a high school football coach, and his humorous videos will attract rural voters who have not yet decided on Trump, according to Reuters.
Volz was relatively unknown nationally until the Harris campaign heated up.
The popular member of Congress reportedly had the support of powerful former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was instrumental in convincing Biden to drop out of the race.
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