Who is Tim Walz? What to know about Kamala Harris’s running mate

American voters and the rest of the world are about to get to know Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz a lot better.

The two-term Democratic governor was tapped by U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris to be her presidential campaign running mate on Tuesday, ending an accelerated search for a vice-presidential candidate as the race to the White House heats up.

The choice of Walz, 60, came after he quickly emerged as a leading messenger for Democrats, portraying liberal policy positions in a common-sense manner that may appeal to Midwestern voters whose support Harris needs to win the presidency.

He’s also credited as the first to label Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance as “weird,” which has caught fire among the Harris campaign and Democrats in general.

“He’s a pretty safe choice,” said Matthew Lebo, a political science professor at Western University who studies American politics.

“He’s very down to earth and can explain liberal values and what the government’s priorities should be in a way that talks about the social safety net and helping people build their lives, as opposed to ‘we’re taxing you more.'”

Walz’s state also shares a 885-kilometre border with Canada — and a trade economy worth billions of dollars every year.

Walz was born in West Point, Neb., a community of about 3,500 people northwest of Omaha. Walz joined the Army National Guard and became a teacher in Nebraska.

He and his wife Gwen moved to Mankato in southern Minnesota in the 1990s, where he continued his teaching career and coached high school football.

Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring from a field artillery battalion in 2005 as a command sergeant major, one of the military’s highest enlisted ranks.

He entered politics in 2006 by