Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (L) greets US Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on March 14, 2024. Photo: VCG

US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, announced on Tuesday to choose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. 

"One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It's personal. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his own," Harris said in a statement, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Walz, 60, previously served as a US House representative. He was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. He emerged from the most accelerated vice presidential search in modern history from a shortlist that included half a dozen Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, according to CNN.

In his remarks to a raucous crowd of more than 10,000 at Temple University, Walz described his upbringing in a small Nebraska town, his 24 years serving in the Army National Guard and his prior career as a high school social studies teacher and football coach, Reuters reported. 

Democrats hope that having Walz on the ticket will help shore up support in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Those are strongholds of the Democratic party, although Harris' opponent and former President Donald Trump flipped them when he clinched the White House in 2016. US President Joe Biden flipped them back to the Democrats with his 2020 victory. This time around, the three states are crucial to winning the election.

According to polling data compiled by the US election information website Real Clear Politics, as of Tuesday, Harris leads Trump by an average of 0.5 percentage points in national polls, but Trump still leads in several key swing states, media reported. 

In reaction to the selection of Walz, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that "this is the most Radical Left duo in American history. There has never been anything like it."

Global Times