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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate for her campaign against former president Donald Trump in the November presidential election.
"Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families," Harris said in a text message to supporters. "I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president."
The official announcement came Tuesday morning, ahead of an evening campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, featuring the Democratic Party presidential ticket.
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Progressives had been rallying around the 60-year-old Walz who championed policies to their liking as governor of Minnesota. The former U.S. Army National Guard member and teacher is also seen as appealing to rural, white voters.
"Walz is a phenomenal pick, who will energize voters across the Midwest in must-win states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania," Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky told VOA.
A tour of states that will play key roles in deciding who wins the November election is set to follow Tuesday's announcement, with the Harris campaign making stops in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.
In Walz, Democrats found a liberal who won rural conservative districts of Minnesota, who owns a gun, has military experience and was born in Nebraska, said Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics at the University of Virginia.
Walz is a "a pretty safe pick, but certainly not boring," Lawless told VOA.
"He's somebody who understands Middle America and holds these progressive policies, not because he's out of touch, but because he believes that this is the best way to move the country forward," she added.
An additional bonus: Walz is respected by unions, a strong point as Trump tries to make inroads with labor.
'Incompetent liberal'
Even before the Harris campaign formally announced Walz as her VP pick, the Trump campaign released a statement calling him an "incompetent liberal."
"It's no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate," Trump Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Walz is obsessed with spreading California's dangerously liberal agenda far and wide."
A close contender for Harris' VP pick was Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democratic rising star with strong approval ratings in a state key to electoral victory.
"Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump," Shapiro posted on social media following the announcement.
Other figures considered by Harris included Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Trump named Senator JD Vance as his running mate during the Republican Party's nominating convention last month. Walz recently raised his profile as an effective attack dog against the Republican ticket, calling them "weird."
Vance is scheduled to carry out his own campaign tour in the so-called battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina this week.
"It just highlights how radical Kamala Harris is," Vance said Tuesday about Walz. "This is a person who listened to the Hamas wing of her own party in selecting a nominee."
Harris quickly emerged as the Democratic candidate late last month after President Joe Biden announced that he would no longer seek another term in office.
Biden's poll numbers sank following a poor performance in a debate against Trump in late June, which prompted calls for him to exit the race.
VOA's Chris Hannas contributed to this story.