WASHINGTON – The re-energized national campaigns for the nation’s top political job were thrust into even higher gear this week as Vice President Kamala Harris began a nationwide campaign tour introducing her surprise running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a 60-year-old former schoolteacher, backed by a wide range of service in elected state and federal responsibilities. He is no stranger to tough challenges in his personal and professional life.
Walz, the father of two children, son Gus and daughter Hope, born after seven months of IVF birth challenges, is a graduate of Chadron State College in Nebraska. One of four siblings, brother Craig, died at 43 when a tree fell on his campsite during a camping trip in Minnesota.
In a text letter to campaign supporters early Tuesday, the Harris campaign described Walz as “a battle-tested leader who has an incredible record of getting things done for Minnesota families.”
The two-term governor previously served 12 years in Congress and served as chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
As governor in Minnesota, Walz is credited with leading the revisit of legislative efforts to tighten police conduct laws in the wake of the police shooting of George Floyd. He also stepped up in the early declarations to defend women’s right to choose. In many respects, Walz matches Vice President Harris’s goals and outgoing President Biden’s agenda.
After a buzz saw search for prospective VP candidates in the last week, Walz was on a long list of possibilities that included governors in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, as well as several Biden cabinet members.
The debut of the Harris-Walz ticket visited Pennsylvania Tuesday and was set to rally supporters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina throughout the week, despite weather and climate conditions.
As for public safety, considering last month’s attempted assassination of former President Trump at a Republican campaign rally in western Pennsylvania, law enforcement agencies across the nation and in Washington have promised the public to do better to avert bad conduct.
Trump did not campaign this week. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s teammate in the Republican bid for leadership, was set to make solo political trips this week in many of the same states as Harris-Walz.
Political observers and workers in all campaigns are anxious to get an assessment of the impact of this new turn of events. In the days after President Biden stunned the public when he announced he was passing the presidential campaign torch to Vice President Harris, his move was widely hailed across the Democratic landscape as millions of dollars poured into Democratic campaigns to boost her efforts. Election monitors also found a skyrocketing rise in voter registration, and polls found the voter gap between Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Republican Trump was fading. As the choice of Gov. Walz was announced, the new question is what happens next from the ground floor.
Locally, in Tennessee, Wayne Shaw, data director for the Tennessee Democratic Party, echoed his fellow colleague’s response to the choice of Gov. Walz.
“We’re happy to see him on board,” said Shaw, running down a list of attributes he hopes will give the campaign a second boost. Walz is known for his early career work as a football coach for a Minnesota high school to serving as a member of Congress championing rural districts. Walz is ready for action, Shaw said.
