Will Tim Walz help Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House?

Until a few weeks ago, many Democrats across the country may not have ever heard of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

That’s less the case in the Midwest, and with Wisconsin among the deciding states in November’s presidential election, Walz’s folksy demeanor and knowledge of policy priorities in the Great Lakes area make him a smart pick as a running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, political scholars say. 

“Walz is the most consequential for Wisconsin because he’s from neighboring Minnesota and so much of Northwest Wisconsin is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul media market. There’s just a lot more exposure to him as a politician,” said Barry Burden, political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

You Might Like

Harris named Walz as her running mate Tuesday after weeks of deliberation on who she might tap to help her win the White House. 

The 60-year-old, second-term governor is a retired teacher, former U.S. congressman, Army National Guard veteran and an avid outdoorsman with roots in rural Minnesota and Nebraska — an avenue for the Democrats to appeal to the working class they often have difficulty reaching. 

Walz also is the first Democratic vice presidential pick since 1964 who hasn’t gone to law school, and while that might seem like a piece of trivia, it represents a departure from political elitism that has been attached to that party, experts say.

“I think Democrats have had a messaging problem,” said UW-Madison political rhetoric scholar Allison Prasch. “There is this narrative that ‘we know what’s best for you,’ and if you vote for (former President) Donald Trump, you’re stupid or you don’t pay attention. And that’s just incorrect, and the more that you communicate that to voters, the more they won’t want to listen to you.”

The constant barrage of Democratic messaging about the existential crisis that this election represents might have exhausted voters and caused them to tune out, Prasch said. Walz takes a different approach, often approaching discussion of his opponents in Trump and Vance from a policy-driven perspective in an effort to reach voters in issues important to them, she said.

“The way that he talks about them actually tells us a lot about how he can then communicate to voters that may not agree with everything that he is going to campaign for, or Harris is going to campaign for or represent, but it does represent kind of this ability to reach across the aisle in ways that we haven’t seen,” Prasch said.

Minnesota itself is not considered a swing state, although Trump lost the state by only 1.5 points in 2016. But Walz’s connection to the Midwest will serve Harris’ quest to secure loyalty in the region — even though Trump seeks the same effect in his choice for a running mate from Ohio.

“The Midwest is where the presidential election is going to be decided,” Burden told the Cap Times. “So both of the major party candidates picked running mates from the Midwest, one from Minnesota, one from Ohio. So they’re triangulating on these ‘blue wall’ states that are really the only path, I think, for Harris to win the election.”

Trump has a little more traction in George and Arizona, two other key swing states, Burden added. Harris will need to hold Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania to make it to the White House, he said.

Politically, Walz has followed an interesting trajectory — entering the world of public office as a more centrist Democrat, once rated favorably by the National Rifle Association when he served in the U.S. House and considered a moderate candidate when running for governor. 

Since Democrats took control of the Minnesota Legislature in recent years, Walz’s second term as governor has a strongly progressive record — ensuring abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and approving legal recreational marijuana in 2023. 

While painted as a radical liberal by the Trump campaign, Walz represents the direction in which the Democratic Party as a whole is moving, Burden said. 

“I wouldn’t say he’s on the fringes of the party. I would say the party has become more solidly progressive over time, and he represents that pretty well,” Burden said.

Over the years, the Minnesota governor has shared thoughts on his neighbor to the east. Walz was a vocal critic of former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 crackdown on public-sector unions, noting in 2018 that “if the states are the laboratories of democracy, that laboratory next door is on fire.”

Wisconsin Democrats welcomed the announcement Tuesday, with the state party Chairman Ben Wikler calling Walz a “proven Midwestern leader.” 

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, told the Cap Times Tuesday that he looked forward to voting for the Harris-Walz ticket in November. Pocan was the first Wisconsin official last month to call for President Joe Biden to step out of the race. 

“Vice President Walz has a great ring to it. All roads to the White House lead through the Midwest, and who better to help guide us there than the governor of Minnesota himself,” Pocan said in a written statement sent to the Cap Times. “I’ve known Tim for years, and he’s as real as it gets. Not some phony like Trump or JD Vance.”

Across the aisle, the Wisconsin Republican Party and the Trump campaign were quick to slam the choice as fomenting a policy agenda they say is too liberal for the country. 

“The middle ground of the Democrat Party has officially waved the white flag of surrender to the far left,” Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said in a written statement. “The Democratic Party and Kamala Harris have cast aside common sense to placate their extremist wing.”

Harris, and now Walz, will campaign in Eau Claire on Wednesday. It will be their second campaign event together following the announcement of Walz as her running mate Tuesday morning.

As he did in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Vance will follow Harris and Walz to Eau Claire to hold a competing campaign rally.

You Might Like