VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS HAS PICKED MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ TO BE HER RUNNING MATE, TURNING TO A MIDWESTERN GOVERNOR, MILITARY VETERAN AND UNION SUPPORTER WHO HELPED ENACT AN AMBITIOUS DEMOCRATIC AGENDA FOR HIS STATE, INCLUDING SWEEPING PROTECTIONS FOR ABORTION RIGHTS AND GENEROUS AID TO FAMILIES. IN CHOOSING THE 60-YEAR-OLD WALZ, HARRIS HOPES TO SHORE UP HER CAMPAIGN'S STANDING ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST, A CRITICAL REGION IN PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS THAT OFTEN SERVES AS A BUFFER FOR DEMOCRATS SEEKING THE WHITE HOUSE. BUT THE PARTY REMAINS HAUNTED BY REPUBLICAN DONALD TRUMP'S WINS IN MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN IN 2016. WALZ, WHO GREW UP IN THE SMALL TOWN OF WEST POINT, NEBRASKA, WAS A SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, FOOTBALL COACH AND UNION MEMBER BEFORE HE GOT INTO POLITICS. HE WON THE FIRST OF SIX TERMS IN CONGRESS IN 2006 FROM A MOSTLY RURAL SOUTHERN MINNESOTA DISTRICT, AND USED THE OFFICE TO CHAMPION VETERANS ISSUES. WALZ SERVED 24 YEARS IN THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD, RISING TO COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR, ONE OF THE HIGHEST ENLISTED RANKS IN THE MILITARY. HE RAN FOR GOVERNOR IN 2018 ON THE THEME OF “ONE MINNESOTA,” DEFEATING HENNEPIN COUNTY COMMISSIONER JEFF JOHNSON BY OVER 11 POINTS. DURING THAT TERM HE GOVERNED THROUGH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, AND THE PROTESTS THAT EMERGED IN THE WAKE OF THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD. REPUBLICANS STILL CRITICIZE WALZ FOR HIS RESPONSE TO THE SOMETIMES VIOLENT UNREST THAT FOLLOWED THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD BY A MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER IN 2020, WHICH INCLUDED THE TORCHING OF A POLICE STATION.