We look at the record and response to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s selection as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s new running mate. Walz is a former public school teacher and high school football coach who served 24 years in the National Guard and was elected governor in Minnesota in 2019 after six terms in Congress. After starting out as a more centrist politician, Walz began a “surprising” shift toward more progressive policies, particularly in the post-Trump years, says Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic. His governing record includes codifying abortion rights in Minnesota, investments in education and child care, an “A” rating from the NRA that eventually fell to an “F,” and passing additional police funding after the 2020 George Floyd protests. Walz’s progressivism has major “limitations,” Marcetic explains, and it remains to be seen if he and Harris can turn their feel-good rhetoric into “real solutions.” We also examine the choice of Walz over another reported vice-presidential front-runner, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, as well as what his ultimate selection says about a changing Democratic Party.
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