Vice President Kamala Harris has tapped liberal darling Tim Walz as her running mate, snubbing popular Jewish Democrat Josh Shapiro in the highly anticipated veepstakes.
Harris had narrowed the pool of potential running mates down to Walz, who has served as Minnesota governor since 2019, and Shapiro.
Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, was seen as the vice presidential favorite heading into the weekend, but Walz’s prospects surged after a string of high-profile progressive endorsements. Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) endorsed Walz over the weekend, saying he "understands the needs of working families." United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain backed Walz and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as the union’s top two choices for the ticket. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) said Walz "has all of the qualities that the vice president needs to balance out the ticket."
In picking Walz, a decision that was first reported by CNN on Tuesday, Harris hands a win to progressive Democrats who opposed Shapiro over his support for Israel in the war against Hamas. Some Democrats expressed concern that Shapiro’s Jewish faith would pose a political liability in battleground states like Michigan, whose large Muslim and Arab populations have hammered the Biden-Harris administration for supporting Israel against Hamas.
While Harris may avoid blowback from the anti-Semitic wing of her party, Walz’s policies as a blue state governor may not appeal to moderate voters in battleground states.
"One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness," Walz said at a "White Dudes for Harris" fundraiser last week.
Walz, who served six terms in the House of Representatives, came under scrutiny over his response to both the coronavirus pandemic and riots in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.
Walz waited days after riots in Minneapolis to call in the National Guard. By then, anti-police protesters had burned down a police station in Minneapolis and caused $500 million in damage.
Walz signed a bill last year to restore voting rights to 55,000 convicted felons in Minnesota as part of an initiative to "expand the right to vote." And Walz signed a bill last year to provide free college and health care to illegal immigrants, even as he raised taxes on gasoline, cars, retail deliveries, and other items.