Montana officials and campaigns reacted on Tuesday to Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in the 2024 race for the White House.
In choosing the 60-year-old Walz, Harris is elevating a Midwestern governor, military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state including sweeping protections for abortion rights, protections for trans rights and generous aid to families.
“The governor who let his own state burn at the hands of radical anti-police protesters isn’t going to do very well in Montana,” Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke said through a spokesperson.
Zinke is set for a rematch this November against Democrat Monica Tranel, who came within striking distance for the western congressional district in 2022.
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Tranel’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the Walz pick or what it may mean for Montana voters.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the media, Nov. 9, 2022, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File
In the eastern congressional race, state auditor and Republican nominee Troy Downing on social media called Walz one of the most progressive governors in the country.
“Together, cackling @KamalaHarris and Tim Waltz[sic] make up the most liberal and progressive presidential ticket ever!” he posted on X.
John Driscoll, Democratic nominee for the eastern district, said Walz may appeal to rural Montanans.
“It’s good the new Vice President candidate understands rural voters,” he said in text. “It’s about realizing people have to wear several hats to help keep a fiercely proud town going. It’s about knowing the kind of internal fortitude it takes to keep volunteering for the local rural fire department, and then keep reliably showing up trained and equipped, though unpaid, when a neighbor has a fire. I think her choice was a really good one!”
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte is facing an election challenge from Democrat Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive and author.
“Americans know the Harris-Walz-Busse agenda will bring nothing more than four more years of failed, weak leadership,” a campaign spokesperson said.
During his bid for Montana’s governorship, Busse says he’s gotten to know Walz, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association.
“He’s the real deal,” Busse said about Walz. “He doesn’t put up with BS and he knows how to bring Americans together. I’m moved by the love he has for his family and his country, and I’m grateful for his military service.”
Montana’s senatorial race between incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Tim Sheehy has garnered national attention, as it’s seen as one of the only seats in the Senate that could go from blue to red and shift the balance of power in the upper chamber. Former president Donald Trump will be hosting a rally in Bozeman later this week to campaign with Sheehy.
In an emailed statement, Sheehy called Walz a “radical progressive” and likened him to Tester.
“Come November, Montanans will come out in droves to bring President Trump and his America First agenda back to the White House and put an end to the insanity of the Biden-Harris-Walz ultra-progressive agenda that Jon Tester votes for every time it matters,” Sheehy said.
Tester, who has not endorsed Harris in her bid for president, did not immediately respond to request for comment about the VP selection and how it might impact Montana voters.
Walz grew up in Nebraska and was a social studies teacher, football coach and union member at Mankato West High School in Minnesota before entering politics. He was elected to serve terms in the United States House of Representatives, representing a mostly rural southern Minnesota district. He used his time in office to champion veterans issues, having served 24 years in the Army National Guard. He then ran for governor of Minnesota in 2018, and won by more than 11 points. Walz won his re-election campaign handily in 2022.
But only weeks ago, he was a relative unknown in the Democratic party outside Minnesota. An ABC News/Ipsos survey conducted before he was announced as the vice presidential candidate but after vetting had started showed that nearly 9 in 10 adults in the U.S. did not know enough to have an opinion about him. Walz has made a name for himself in recent weeks by coining one of Democrats’ buzziest campaign bits to date, calling Trump and Vance “just weird,” a label that the Democratic Governors Association amplified in a post on X and Democrats have more broadly echoed.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz applauds as President Joe Biden speaks at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minnesota, Nov. 1, 2023.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
Walz joins the ticket during one of the most turbulent periods in modern American politics. Republicans have rallied around former President Donald Trump after he was targeted in an attempted assassination in July. Days later, President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, causing Harris to scramble to unify Democrats and decide on a running mate over a breakneck two-week stretch.
Since Walz was named as the vice presidential candidate, the Harris-Walz team has raised more than $10 million from grassroots donations, according to the campaign.
The Minnesota governor-turned-VP candidate emerged as the pick from a field of more than a dozen contenders. Harris narrowed her short list to only a handful of finalists including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Walz, who she would ultimately choose. Harris said she wanted someone with executive experience who could be a governing partner.
Harris and Walz will spend the next five days touring critical battleground states, visiting Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday and Arizona and Nevada later in the week.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who Trump named as his running mate last month, plans to stop in some of the same areas. He told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he called Walz earlier in the day and left a voice message.
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Publish date : 2024-08-06 11:41:00
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