Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate just roughly two months out from the presidential election in November.
Harris is expected to introduce Walz during a rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, one day after she was officially nominated as the Democratic Party presidential candidate, according to the Associated Press.
This decision comes after Harris’ team reportedly narrowed down the search for a running mate to Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly over the past few days.
Sources from within Harris’ Wilmington, Delaware campaign headquarters said Walz was a “staff favorite” in the office, adding that many on Harris’ team are now awaiting the official announcement.
“If it’s him, we’re stoked. We like him,” said the source, per CNN.
A large factor in Harris’ decision to select Walz was reportedly his potential standing in the Midwest, as the vice president looks to boost Democratic support in states such as Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, reported The Washington Post.
Walz was also selected because of the chemistry he had already built up with Harris over the past few years, with the source inside Harris’ campaign headquarters noting that this factor was “really important and it really clicked for both of them.”
“Then on top of that, the Harris campaign, like all of us, saw how energizing Walz was for the base. They saw how popular he is in Minnesota after passing a historic, progressive agenda here. The vetting on Walz went extremely well,” they added, per CNN.
Former President Donald Trump has already begun taking shots at Walz after news of the selection was reported on by multiple outlets, writing in a fundraising email that the Minnesota governor would “unleash hell on Earth” if he and Harris win in November.
“Even worse than Dangerously Liberal and Crooked Kamala Harris — HE’S THAT BAD,” continues the email, per NBC News.
Harris and Trump each seem open to the possibility of participating in a presidential debate before the election, though neither side has been able to agree on a date in which a potential debate could take place.
The former president has said that he is prepared to debate Harris on Fox News in early September, but the current vice president seems intent on keeping the initial debate date that Trump scheduled with President Joe Biden, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.