Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as running mate, passing over Josh Shapiro

Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday, opting against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had catapulted to the national stage as a possible pick for the No. 2 spot.

Walz, 60, is a second-term governor, former congressman, and retired teacher who served in the Army National Guard. He had risen in recent weeks from an under-the-radar Democrat to his party’s vice presidential nominee as he blanketed the airwaves with critiques of Republicans, which have been clipped and boosted on social media.

“As I’ve said repeatedly over the past several weeks, the running mate decision was a deeply personal decision for the vice president — and it was also a deeply personal decision for me,” Shapiro said in a statement after the announcement. “Pennsylvanians elected me to a four-year term as their governor, and my work here is far from finished.”

The choice elevates Walz, who avoided any major scrutiny during the public vetting process. His background and down-to-earth appeal are things the campaign hopes can pull in voters in places such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, even though Walz is from a reliably blue state. It also means Harris opted for the favored finalist of some progressive Democrats who had criticized Shapiro. Walz, with a Democrat-controlled legislature, enacted a progressive agenda in his state last year, legalizing marijuana and passing sweeping protections for LGBTQ people.

Harris and Walz appeared together for the first time as running mates Tuesday evening at a rally in Philadelphia, where Shapiro also spoke.

“I set out to find a partner who can help build this bright future, a leader who will help unite our nation and move us forward, a fighter for the middle class, a patriot who believes as I do in the extraordinary promise of America,” Harris said of Walz.

Shapiro faced the most backlash of any of the top finalists to the prospect of his candidacy. While top Democrats and more than 50 of the state’s labor leaders overwhelmingly endorsed his candidacy, a handful of vocal opponents highlighted his past support for school vouchers and staunch support of Israel in the war in Gaza as off-putting to some in the liberal wing of the party.

That may have factored into Harris’ decision as she looks to keep the party united with less than 100 days until Election Day.

“It didn’t help,” Philadelphia Democratic Party chair Bob Brady said of the scrutiny surrounding Shapiro, including from some detractors from his own party. Brady called the selection of Walz, whom he served with in Congress, “bittersweet.” He said he still believes Democrats would have been better positioned to win Pennsylvania with Shapiro on the ticket.

“You wouldn’t have any respect for me if I said it didn’t matter,” Brady said. “It does matter, but it doesn’t mean we can’t still win it.”

Shapiro is the state’s third Jewish governor and has become one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in the country. While he has strong approval ratings and accomplishments such as quickly addressing the collapse of a bridge on Interstate 95 last year, he has served as governor for less than two years and could have been vulnerable to criticism that he had not developed much of a record of legislative successes in the governor’s mansion.

Republicans immediately cast Walz as a “dangerously liberal extremist.”

“It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate,” said Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the campaign of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. “If Walz won’t tell voters the truth, we will: Just like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz is a dangerously liberal extremist, and the Harris-Walz California dream is every American’s nightmare.”

Democrats plan to combat this messaging around Walz “just by the governor being himself,” said Brendan McPhillips, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign.

Shapiro, 51, of Abington, has long been seen as a potential White House contender. His landslide 14-point victory in the 2022 race for governor in swing state Pennsylvania cemented his status as one of the party’s top political talents in a critical battleground.

Shapiro had widely been seen as potentially running for president in 2028 before President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race presented him with a new opportunity. Before Harris’ announcement, some political observers privately wondered whether the ambitious Shapiro would be up for serving as No. 2 on the presidential ticket.

That ambition may have hurt him as he was vetted for the job. Shapiro strategically avoided cable TV news shows, as Walz flooded the programs, publicly auditioning for the job there. He said he did not want to put undue pressure on Harris’ “deeply personal decision.”

“I think there will be a lot of second-guessing on how he handled this,” said an ally of Shapiro’s in Harrisburg, who did not want to be identified criticizing Shapiro’s approach. “He took a backseat approach instead of pushing himself to the front like Walz.”

But two sources familiar with the vetting process said that despite a somewhat subtle campaign, Shapiro’s ambition was still a factor that worked against him. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who does not get along with Shapiro, reportedly communicated through staff that he didn’t think the Pennsylvania governor would be good for the ticket because of his career aspirations.

A public push for Shapiro from party leaders also took an embarrassing turn when a promo video released by Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker went out early and seemed to name Shapiro as the official pick.

In Harris’ search for a running mate, Shapiro’s connection to Pennsylvania was perhaps his strongest selling point. The state is widely viewed as a must-win for Democrats this year. Shapiro has won by big margins in several of his last statewide races and he’s liked by some Republican and independent voters. While there’s little evidence to show that historically the home state of a vice presidential candidate helps carry the state, Shapiro’s popularity here was seen as an asset.

Walz, though, has a personal story that could have unique appeal in the Midwest and in rural parts of Pennsylvania, where President Joe Biden won back just enough Democrats to help him carry the state.

“People keep saying that Pennsylvania is the Midwest but Montgomery County isn’t the Midwest,” one statewide Democratic strategist said. “So if you’re trying to keep the working-class Americans attracted to Joe Biden, Tim Walz does that more than Josh Shapiro.”

By missing out on the ticket, Shapiro may also have more time to campaign for Harris in his home state, without the added job of jetting around the country.

McPhillips, the Harris campaign adviser, told reporters Shapiro will remain a key partner in the campaign.

“The governor didn’t go anywhere. He’s still gonna be actively campaigning in support of the ticket,” McPhillips added. “He put out a supportive statement just a little while ago, and I feel very confident that as Pa. voters get to know who Gov. Walz is, there’s just a lot to love about him.”

Some Pennsylvania Republicans were celebrating Walz as the choice over Shapiro, whom they viewed as a more worrisome opponent.

“Thank you, Kamala,” said Pat Poprik, the Bucks County GOP chair. “I want to send her a ‘thank-you’ card.”

Despite not being selected for the ticket, Shapiro is sure to continue hitting the campaign trail as a surrogate, starting with a speaking slot at the rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

”She is a fearless leader,” Shapiro said of Harris at a Philadelphia event earlier this month. “She has always put people before the powerful, whether in a courtroom, in the halls of power, or the office of the vice president. She has never forgotten the people that got her there. She has never forgotten where she came from.”

Staff writers Anna Orso, Fallon Roth, Jeremy Roebuck, and Andrew Seidman contributed to this article.