U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate today, according to three people familiar with the decision.

In choosing Walz, she turns to a Midwestern governor, a veteran, and a labor supporter who has helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including comprehensive abortion rights protection and generous aid for families.

Harris hopes to bolster her campaign's standing in the Upper Midwest, a critically important area in presidential politics that often acts as a hurdle for Democrats seeking the White House. The party is still haunted by Republican Donald Trump's victories in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016. Trump lost those states in 2020 but has focused on them as he aims to return to the presidency this year and is expanding his focus to Minnesota.

Walz, 60, joins Harris during one of the most tumultuous periods in modern American politics, promising an unexpected campaign ahead. Republicans rallied around Trump after his assassination attempt in July. Just weeks later, President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, forcing Harris to unify Democrats and consider potential partners during a very compressed timeline.

The three people familiar with the decision spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because it had not been announced.

Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket, initially considered about a dozen candidates before settling on a handful of serious contenders, all of whom were white men. In choosing Walz, she opted for a humble partner who has proven himself a champion for Democratic causes.

Walz was a strong public supporter of Harris in her campaign against Trump and Vance, where she described Republicans as "weird" in an interview last month. Democrats have since capitalized on the message and amplified it.

During a fundraiser for Harris on Monday in Minneapolis, Walz said, "Describing those men as weird was not an insult. It was an observation."

Walz, who grew up in the small town of West Point, Nebraska, was a social studies teacher, a football coach, and a union member at Mankato West High School in Minnesota before entering politics.

He won his first six terms in Congress in 2006 from a rural district in southern Minnesota and used the position to advocate for veterans' issues. Walz served for 24 years in the National Guard, rising to the rank of Sergeant Major, one of the highest enlisted ranks in the military.

He ran for governor in 2018 under the slogan "One Minnesota" and won by more than 11 points.

As governor, Walz had to find ways to work during his first term with a divided legislature between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led Senate. However, Minnesota has a history of divided government, and the arrangement was surprisingly fruitful in his first year. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit Minnesota early in his second year, and bipartisanship quickly eroded.

Walz relied on emergency powers to lead the state's response. Republicans chafed at restrictions that included lockdowns, school closures, and business shutdowns. They responded by firing or forcing out some of his agency heads. But Minnesotans stuck at home also got to know Walz better through his frequent afternoon briefings in the early days of the crisis, which were broadcast statewide.

Walz was reelected in 2022 by about 8 points over his Republican opponent, Dr. Scott Jensen, a physician and vaccine skeptic. Not only did Walz win, but Democrats also maintained control of the House and flipped the Senate to achieve the "trifecta" of full control of both chambers and the governor's office for the first time in eight years. The main driver was the Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs case, which ruled that the Constitution does not include the right to abortion. This harmed Minnesota Republicans, especially among suburban women.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said on Monday, "Tim has been in the news because the country and the world are seeing the man we love so much."

Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said that the young people he spoke to during the campaign were "buzzed."

Walz and other Democrats entered the 2023 legislative session with an ambitious agenda – and a massive budget surplus of $17.6 billion to help fund it. Their most proud achievements included comprehensive protections for abortion rights that eliminated nearly all restrictions enacted by Republicans in previous years, including a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent requirements. They also enacted new protections for transgender rights, making the state a refuge for families coming from outside the state for gender-affirming care for children.

Other major accomplishments included tax relief for families with children aimed at reducing child poverty, as well as free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of family income. They also enacted a paid family and medical leave program, legalized recreational marijuana for adults, and made voting easier.

Republicans complained that Walz and fellow Democrats wasted a surplus that would have been better spent on permanent tax relief for everyone. They criticized the governor and his administration for inadequate oversight of pandemic relief programs that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Federal prosecutors charged 70 people with defrauding federal food programs that funded meals for children during the pandemic from $250 million under Walz's watch. This scandal, known as "Feeding Our Future," is one of the largest pandemic aid fraud cases in the country. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor issued a scathing report in June that said Walz's Department of Education "failed to act on warning signs," did not exercise its authority effectively, and was unprepared to respond.

Republicans continue to criticize Walz for his response to the sometimes violent unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, which included the burning of a police precinct.

During a fundraiser in May in St. Paul, Trump repeated his false claim that he was responsible for deploying the National Guard to quell the violence. Trump said, "The whole city was burning... If I hadn't been president, you wouldn't have Minneapolis today."

Walz was the one who actually issued the order, which he did in response to requests from the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. But within Minnesota, Republican lawmakers said Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey were too slow to act. There was a back-and-forth blame game between Frey and Walz over who was responsible for not activating the Guard faster.

Walz often served as a stand-in for Biden-Harris, making frequent appearances on national television. This included an interview on Fox News that irritated Trump so much he posted on Truth Social, "They’re making me fight battles I shouldn’t have to fight." Walz is also the co-chair of the Rules Committee for the Democratic National Convention. He led a meeting at the White House with Democratic governors alongside Biden following the president's disastrous performance in his debate with Trump.

Putting Walz on the ticket could help Democrats retain the state’s ten electoral votes and boost the party more broadly in the Midwest. No Republican has won a statewide race in Minnesota since Tim Pawlenty was reelected governor in 2006, but GOP candidates for attorney general and state auditor came close to winning in 2022.

Trump ended up just 1.5 percentage points behind Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016. While Biden won Minnesota by more than 7 points in 2020, Trump has falsely claimed that he won the state last time and can do it again.

Minnesota has produced two vice presidents, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.