Harris Chooses MN Gov. Tim Walz as Running Mate | National News

Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states.

She will introduce Walz at a rally Tuesday evening in Philadelphia.

Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a deadline last week. She officially claimed the nomination Monday night when the DNC released final results.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the Latest:

Tim Walz will need to introduce himself to America

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will need to introduce himself to the vast majority of Americans.

An ABC News/Ipsos survey conducted before Walz was selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, but after vetting began, showed that nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults did not know enough to have an opinion about him.

Walz’s lack of a national profile as he joins Harris on the campaign trail extends to his own party. Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats also didn’t know enough to have an opinion of Walz in the ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Fellow Minnesotan Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Walz is ‘just unendingly optimistic and joyous’

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Walz is someone who is “just unendingly optimistic and joyous, and that is very, very important right now in our politics.”

The fellow Minnesotan who served with Walz in Congress told The Associated Press “he’s blunt, but he’s also positive” in a way she believes will provide an upbeat message in contrast to the Trump-Vance Republican ticket.

“I always think of him in his plaid shirt because he was always making the point it’s ‘One Minnesota,’” said Klobuchar, a Democrat. “And I think that’s a point you’re going hear him talk about with our nation.”

She said his background as a hunter and someone who fishes “just brings a different perspective to the White House.”

Several black and white SUVs have left the Governor’s residence in St. Paul

The SUVs left amid cheers from residents lined up on the sidewalk.

Harris’ running mate pick is good news for man who owns rights to HarrisWalz.com

Jeremy Green Eche was in the middle of getting his toddler dressed the moment news broke that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate.

And he was amped.

Eche was uniquely invested in Harris’ pick. He currently owns the rights to HarrisWalz.com, a site he bought in 2020 — along with a slate of other Harris sites — when the would-be vice president was in the midst of a primary campaign for president.

“I was constantly refreshing four different news sites on my phone,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I was very excited.” He said he “almost immediately” began getting calls from both journalists and “friends I hadn’t heard from in a while.”

This is not a new scenario for the 36-year-old trademark lawyer in Brooklyn, New York. Eche is a cyber squatter, someone who buys a domain with someone else’s name or brand in it for very little money, hoping to sell it to that person or brand for a large profit in the subsequent months or years.

Eche supported Clinton in 2016 and supports Harris today. The prospect of something like that happening again doesn’t give Eche pause, however.

Walz says he’s ‘all in’

In a Tuesday morning post on X, Walz said joining the ticket with Harris is “the honor of a lifetime.”

His profile details on X are now “Running to win this thing with @kamalaharris.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Walz

Shapiro called Walz “an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket” who’ll help Harris become the 47th president.

Shapiro, who met with Harris on Sunday about the job, said he was grateful to talk about “her vision for the role and the campaign ahead.”

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