Kamala Harris and Tim Walz rally in Philly for their first joint event; Josh Shapiro speaks after being passed over for VP; JD Vance campaigns in South Philly

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his debut as the Democratic candidate for vice president Tuesday night at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, receiving a raucous reception with thousands of attendees wearing light-up bracelets like they were at a Taylor Swift concert.

“Minnesota’s strength comes from our values — our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always being willing to lend a helping hand,” said Walz, a former teacher. “Those are the same values I learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students. I took it to Congress and to the State Capitol, and now, Vice President Harris and I are running to take those very values to the White House.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and her newly announced running mate Gov. Tim Walz capped their day in Philly thanking volunteers at the tarmac at Philadelphia International Airport. The pair was joined by their spouses, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Walz’ wife Gwen.

After taking a few photos with the volunteers a reporter shouted “Governor, are you ready?” he responded by pumping his fist and saying “ready to win!”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, fresh off getting passed over as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, still took the stage to tout Harris’ campaign in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

He entered Temple University’s packed Liacouras Center to a sea of signs for Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, having narrowly missed the opportunity for them to feature his own name and hours after Harris made her decision.

In Vice President Kamala Harris’ search for a running mate, Gov. Josh 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.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro arrived on Sunday at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, thinking there was a strong chance she would pick him to be her running mate in the presidential race.

But by the time he left his final interview with Harris, Shapiro got the impression she was headed in a different direction, according to a person with knowledge of his experience during the process. Two days later, she tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate.

"91 days," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at the end of his first speech as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate. "My god, that's easy, we'll sleep when we're dead."

Walz urged the crowd to get involved with the election, directing them to Harris' campaign website.

Few stragglers stayed in line outside of the Liacouras Center in hopes of getting one more glimpse of the rally.

Waiting in the humidity, attendees huddled in groups to tune into the livestream on their phones.

Four antiabortion protesters stood at North 16th Street and West Montgomery Avenue, holding signs criticizing Kamala Harris’ support of abortion rights.

Julia Sadik, the Pennsylvania regional coordinator of Students for Life, said the protesters' goal was to hold Harris accountable for her support of abortion and potentially change minds.

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, speaking to The Inquirer minutes after the rally, pitted Kamala Harris' crowd size against that of former president Donald Trump, who held a rally at the Liacouras Center earlier this summer.

"The last time a presidential candidate came to my district, to this arena, he had to lie about the crowd size and bus people in," Kenyatta said. "Today, you saw overflow crowds."

Amid attempts from Republican legislators to curb access to IVF, Minnesota Gov. Tom Walz shared how he and his wife spent years going through infertility treatments and remembers "praying every night for a call for good news."

Walz recalled "the pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn't worked." He said that "it wasn't by chance that when we welcome our daughter into the world, we named her Hope."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is already playing into his working class, every-man background, contrasting his upbringing and education with that of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio).

"Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale...," said Walz, who attended Chadron State College and Minnesota State University, Mankato, to the crowd at the only public university in Philadelphia.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took his first public jab at former president Donald Trump as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running-mate Tuesday.

"Donald Trump's not fighting for you or your family, he never sat at that kitchen table like the one I grew up at wondering how we're going to pay the bills," Walz said.

Within the very first moments of his first speech as Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke highly of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was also up for the role of Kamala Harris’ VP pick.

“Holy hell can this guy bring the fire?” Walz asked the crowd. “He can bring the fire… Also, I have to tell you everybody in America knows when you need a bridge fixed, call that guy,” Walz said of Shapiro’s quick fix of I-95.

Vice President Kamala Harris is launching her multi-battleground-state tour this week and the debut of her running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, starting Tuesday in Philadelphia.

“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… a promise of freedom, opportunity, and justice not just for some, but for all,” Harris said.

As the lights dimmed in the Liacouras Center, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on stage with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the first time Tuesday evening.

They were met with cheers and screams and waves from the audience before the pair made their way to the podium.

When Gov. Josh Shapiro took the stage at the Liacouras Center Tuesday evening to thunderous applause it was not as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate — as he may have previously expected, and many Pennsylvania Democrats hoped — but as the person chosen to speak ahead of Harris and VP pick Tim Walz.

Shapiro's appearance on the Philadelphia stage Tuesday is the culmination of weeks of speculation as to whether Pennsylvania's popular governor would be on the Democratic ticket, though there were several factors — both public and personal — that went into the governor ultimately being passed over for the job.

Among the line of rally goers on West Montgomery Avenue, Spencer Knoll and Andrew Petrick stood out for their attire. Both wore green and black shirts in the style of the cover of Brat, the popular Charli XCX album that memes, and the singer herself, have linked to Kamala Harris.

The couple, both 27-year-olds who drove down from their home in Westchester County, N.Y., for the rally, said the shirts, which had “Kamala” written in small black font on a lime green background, were homemade, and meant to play into the fun of the memes about the Democratic nominee.

Shortly after 5:30 p.m. people hoping to squeeze into the Liacouras Center or an overflow room to hear Vice President Kamala Harris speak heard devastating news.

“You're not getting in,” said one disappointed woman to people at the end of the line.

Marshall James Kavanaugh sits quietly under an umbrella with his typewriter, writing “poems for the people” on the spot for attendees in line who pass by him.

The 37-year-old West Philly resident said he occasionally attends peaceful protests to hand out poems based on themes people give him.

As it neared time for Vice President Kamala Harris to take the stage at the Liacouras Center, Delaware resident Rob Brown shouted into his phone as he waited in line several blocks away: “How many people can the Liacouras fit?”

His fellow comrades in waiting laughed at their predicament, unsure if they'd be able to make it inside.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who was an outspoken advocate for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as he was being vetted to be the Democratic nominee for vice president, said she expects the governor would rally behind the ticket despite being passed over.

“I’ve worked with him for many, many years, he’s a consummate professional,” Parker said Tuesday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We know, he knows, all of us are going to come together to ensure that we defeat Donald Trump.”

Sen. Bob Casey took the podium to urge rallygoers to support Democrats up and down the ticket this November, describing Vice President Kamala Harris as an experienced and confident leader.

"Are you ready to go out and make sure Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win?" Casey asked the crowd, which responded with a roar.

At least two pro-Palestine protesters were beside the entrance of the Liacouras Center ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris' rally with her newly named running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Several signs saying “No votes for genocide,” “blood on your hands,” and “end all U.S. aid to apartheid Israel” were hung up on the side of the parking garage.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker urged attendees to get behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the Democratic ticket, after she previously pushed for Gov. Josh Shapiro to be Harris’ running mate.

Parker, recalling a time when she was a child and her grandmother told her not to talk badly about internal strife, said the crowd must support Harris and Walz in order to beat former President Donald Trump.

Severn Fahr, a retired social studies teacher in Lower Merion, is another proud Minneapolis native attending the rally. Fahr, who showed up decked out in a University of Minnesota hat, shirt, and jacket, along with matching maroon and gold shoes, said he was excited for a “normal guy” and former teacher to be on the ticket.

“Shapiro has done an absolutely, excellent job in the state,” Fahr acknowledged. “But what [Harris] was looking for was someone who offset her, and Walz does. He spent 24 years in the Coast Guard, was a public school teacher, never an administrator or any of that crap.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa) came out on the stage for a brief speech Tuesday evening built off the messaging first started by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz that JD Vance, with whom Fetterman serves in the Senate, is "seriously weird" and that Trump and Vance are "really, really, really, really weird dudes."

"Pennsylvania picks the president," Fetterman said. And despite the rivalries that the two sides of the commonwealth have on sports teams or favorite convenience stores (Fetterman exclaimed: "Look, I'm a yinzer, I'm a Steelers guy, I'm a Sheetz guy!" to the Philadelphia crowd), Pennsylvanians must come together to elect Kamala Harris and Walz.

For Pennsylvanians who had hoped their home state governor would be Kamala Harris' vice presidential nominee, Tuesday morning's announcement was bittersweet.

But for Minnesotans like Gretchen Grosch, who came from her native St. Paul to North Philadelphia to support Harris at her Temple rally, the news meant that her governor, Tim Walz, could soon hold the nation's second-highest office.

For Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, the first woman to serve as Philadelphia's mayor, electing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the first woman president is personal.

"I need you to know that this is a history making day here in Philadelphia and in our country because we are on the cusp of electing our vice president, Kamala Harris, to be president," Parker said in a energized speech to the crowd at The Liacouras Center Tuesday evening.

Hundreds of supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris descended upon Temple University's campus and with a line wrapping the Liacouras Center, where she is slated to appear with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Brian Randolph, a T-shirt vendor, drove up his “Make America Laugh Again” merch from Pittsburgh and set up across the Liacouras at 8 a.m. and business has been booming.

Attendees in support of Harris are waiting in the light rain to be let inside the Liacouras Center.

The road outside the center is closed and blocked off from attendees, who are wrapped around Cecil B. Moore Avenue, along 16th Street, and on Norris Street.

Outside of the Liacouras Center, people have lined up for more than two blocks to get into the rally, despite a smattering of rain drops.

Gabriel Kaplan, 21, a Minneapolis resident visiting family in Philly, said he was “very very excited” for Tim Walz, his governor, to get on the ticket.

In the same vein as a Taylor Swift arena concert, attendees at Kamala Harris' Temple University rally are being offered light-up bracelets.

The white bracelets are switching between red, white, and blue lights in unison, creating a sea of changing colors throughout the arena as rallygoers continue to file in for Harris' 5:30 p.m. remarks.

In his first visit to Pennsylvania since becoming former President Donald Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance argued that Vice President Kamala Harris had bowed to her party’s left wing in choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“When given the opportunity she will bend the knee to the most radical elements of her party, that’s exactly what she did here,” Vance told a crowd of Trump supporters Tuesday at the 2300 Arena in South Philly.

Kamala Harris’ VP pick Gov. Tim Walz unifies the Democratic party, said Rev. Mark Tyler, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

“I know very well what a fractured convention can look like,” Tyler said. “That’s not going to happen now.”

Crowds of Kamala Harris supporters are filing into Temple University's Liacouras Center, the 10,000-seat arena where the vice president is set to deliver her first Pennsylvania campaign remarks at 5:30 p.m. alongside her newly-coronated running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

"Philly for Harris" flashed across the arena's massive digital display, as hits from Taylor Swift and ABBA backed the energy buzzing through the venue. Harris' campaign expects to fill the arena capacity.

So far, most members of the U.S. Democratic congressional delegation from Pennsylvanian has openly expressed their support for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was endorsed by the Philadelphia Democratic Party, was one of the top contenders for the role. In Shapiro’s hometown of Abington and Montgomery County, disappointment has started to set in, though they recognize the strength of the Democrats’ bench for the VP slot.

Republican officials across Pennsylvania spent the day Tuesday celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate choice, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Shapiro, a moderate Democrat and popular first-term governor, had been seen as a top contender to be Harris’ running mate. And Pennsylvania Republicans had been worried about it, citing his work-across-the-aisle appeal.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat competing in a nationally watched reelection campaign, called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “a committed and capable public servant” following Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to make the Midwesterner her running mate in the presidential race.

“I’m sure he and the Vice President are going to run a winning campaign,” said Casey, who is being challenged by Republican David McCormick. “The path to the Senate majority and the White House runs through Pennsylvania, and I am committed to earning every vote in my race for re-election to the Senate, which is already the most expensive in the country thanks to my opponent’s billionaire backers.”

A reporter asked for Sen. JD Vance's reaction to women across the country who were offended by remarks the senator made in 2021, saying that the United States was being run by "childless cat ladies."

Vance became defensive to the question and said that "if the media wants to get offended about a sarcastic remark I made before I even ran for the United States Senate then the media is entitled to get offended.”

During an event in South Philadelphia Tuesday, Sen. JD Vance touched on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Jewish heritage and his support of Israel in the war in Gaza as reasons he wasn’t selected as Kamala Harris’ running mate.

“I genuinely feel bad that for days, maybe even weeks, the guy actually had to run away from his Jewish heritage because of what the Democrats are saying about him,” Vance said of Shapiro. “I think that's scandalous and disgraceful.”

During his brief campaign event Tuesday morning in South Philly, Sen. JD Vance barely mentioned Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.

Vance said he called and congratulated Walz, saying it was "the polite thing to do." Vance also said he was willing to debate Walz once Walz officially becomes the vice presidential nominee after the Democratic National Convention later this month.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance has taken the stage at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. After walking out to "America First" by Merle Haggard, Vance shook the hands of supporters before exclaiming: "It's great to be in South Philly, isn't it?"

Vance said that he would introduce individuals who have been affected by what he calls "Kamala Harris' disastrous policies."

In Vice President Kamala Harris’ search for a running mate, Josh 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.

Two sources familiar with Vice President Kamala Harris' vetting process said that despite a somewhat subtle campaign for the role, Gov. Josh 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.

Fans of former President Donald Trump flocked to South Philly from across the region to catch a glimpse of his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, on Tuesday, and many said they were more interested in his politics than his personality.

Democrats in recent weeks have sought to brand Vance as a “weird” politician — awkward, uncharismatic, and prone to gaffes.

Philadelphia City Councilmember Jim Harrity had big plans to attend Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in North Philadelphia Tuesday, assuming she would tap Gov. Josh Shapiro to be her running mate.

Now, Harrity’s thinking about spending the evening talking to constituents at National Night Out instead — skipping the rally altogether.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick said Tuesday that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz make up the "the most liberal presidential ticket in history" and attempted to tie the pair to his opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

"A vote for Border Czar Harris, Walz, and weak Bob Casey is a vote for another four years of open borders, sky high inflation, destroying energy jobs in the commonwealth, defunding the police, and stripping Americans of their private health insurance," McCormick said in a statement. "Pennsylvanians deserve strong leadership in Washington, and that’s why Republicans are going to win big this November.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, in his first statement after being passed over for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, said he has “a lot more stuff I want to get done” in Pennsylvania and he will work to “unite Pennsylvanians behind Kamala Harris’ campaign.”

Shapiro also broke his silence on the veepstakes process, and said he was asked to participate in the running mate vetting process two weeks ago. He said he was grateful to meet with Harris on Sunday “about her vision for the role and the campaign ahead.”

Philadelphia party chair Bob Brady, who was part of a public campaign for Shapiro to become the vice presidential nominee, said the news that Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was “bittersweet.”

“Josh was our guy but like I said, like Josh said all along, whoever she picks we’re going to be 110% behind," Brady said.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said Gov. Josh Shapiro’s consideration for vice president is a “testament to the work we’re doing” and pledged that they would both work hard for the Democratic presidential ticket.

Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate and will appear together for the first time at Temple University’s Liacouras Center Tuesday night. Shapiro will also speak at the event, according to his public calendar.

Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello, a Republican, said he wasn’t surprised to see Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro passed over as Harris’ running mate.

Speaking to The Inquirer last month DiBello had predicted that Shapiro would face greater scrutiny and antisemitism on the national scale.

Kamala Harris’ selection of Tim Walz as her running mate could open the gates for firsts.

On the presidential side, Harris is already the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.

Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s running mate, is likely to make criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris a key point in his South Philly rally on Tuesday.

Speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt before Harris’ pick became public Tuesday Vance speculated that the only reason Harris would pick someone other than Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would be antisemitism within the Democratic party.

Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, opting against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had catapulted to the national stage as a possible pick in recent weeks.

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, that have been clipped and boosted on social media.

All eyes will be on Philadelphia Tuesday as Kamala Harris takes the stage alongside her 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Harris is scheduled to attend a campaign rally at the Liacouras Center, the 10,000-seat basketball arena on Temple University’s campus Tuesday evening. She’s expected to speak around 5:30 p.m.

Despite not being selected as Kamala Harris' running mate, Josh Shapiro is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Liacouras Center around 5 p.m., according to the governor’s office.

Shapiro faced intense scrutiny over the past few weeks as Harris narrowed her consideration down to a handful of potential VP picks.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination on Monday — becoming the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.

More than four years after her first attempt at the presidency collapsed, Harris’ coronation as her party’s standard-bearer caps a tumultuous and frenetic period for Democrats prompted by President Joe Biden’s disastrous June debate performance that shattered his own supporters’ confidence in his reelection prospects and spurred extraordinary intraparty warfare about whether he should stay in the race.

Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be the only candidate on the presidential ballot visiting Philadelphia Tuesday.

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Donald Trump’s running mate, is traveling to Philadelphia Tuesday for the first time since he became the GOP vice presidential nominee last month.

Political science research is clear: If you’re looking to carry a state’s electoral votes, it won’t help much to pick a vice presidential candidate from there.

Unless, just maybe, the state in question is Pennsylvania, which was decided by around a percentage point in each of the last two presidential elections — and which has a parochial political culture.