Pelosi noted that she worked with Walz when he was in the House from 2007 to 2019, including serving as the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee for the last two years of his term. Walz also served 24 years in the Army National Guard.
“I don’t want anybody to forget that because he made tremendous, tremendous gains for our veterans, working with our folks on the Appropriations Committee and and with the speaker,” she said. “We made more progress than has ever been made in the history of our country since the GI Bill under his leadership.”
Walz, 60, took office as Minnesota’s governor in 2019 after winning election by over 11 percentage points. His pick is not likely to be seen as an attempt to get Harris a boost in his home state; Minnesota is not considered a swing state and has not voted for a Republican for president since 1972.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X that Walz was an “incredible partner as a Governor” and would make “an incredible vice president.”
“Tim Walz is about doing the right thing. Whether it’s free school meals or standing up against gun violence — he’s never been intimidated. He’s about honor and decency, and is exactly the right pick in a campaign about daylight vs darkness,” the post reads.
Other California lawmakers have chimed in as well, with U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla calling Walz “a strong addition to the ticket, with a long track record of public service and delivering results for working families,” in a social media post.
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who worked with Walz throughout his 12 years in Congress, said he was an “outstanding choice.”
“He’s been just an example of someone who has all the values that I think represent the United States of America. He was a military veteran — the highest ranking non-commissioned officer to ever be elected to Congress — he was a schoolteacher, he was a coach, he’s a family guy,” said Thompson, who is a Vietnam veteran and co-chair of the Congressional Military Veterans Caucus. “You could not call central casting and get a better person for this job.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) kept his initial reaction short, posting “Harris + Walz = Trump is toast.”
“It’s going to be very good for California,” he added in an interview with KQED. “Not only are we aligned in terms of values but also, unlike Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they’re not going to be taking constant pot shots at California and they understand that California is the fifth-largest economy in the world, it is the beating heart of the tech industry, and that they need to uplift California and work with us.”
Harris faced an incredibly truncated timeline to vet and pick a running mate: The process, which usually takes months, was conducted over two weeks. And it came as reports leaked that Trump was dissatisfied with his choice, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
KQED’s Marisa Lagos contributed to this report.
