Kamala Harris’ weeks-old campaign arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday for a rally that when first announced, stirred assumptions it would be the debut of a Democratic presidential ticket featuring Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a candidate for vice president.
It’s a different governor, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, who will be featured as Harris’ running mate.
Harris, 59, the Democratic nominee and current U.S. vice president, announced ahead of Tuesday’s rally that Walz, 60, would join her in the election. The progressive two-term governor is a retired non-commissioned officer of the U.S. Army Reserves and retired school teacher who also served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, (Walz) delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team,” Harris posted to X, formerly Twitter, in announcing her choice.
The momentum that had belonged to Shapiro swung toward Walz last weekend ahead of interviews with Harris.
Walz is the Democrat who labeled the Republican ticket, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “weird” — a takedown that’s caught on among Democrats. Walz is pro-union, a sportsman supportive of gun safety reforms, supportive of abortion rights and signed a bill to legalize marijuana.
There are parallels between Walz and Shapiro on these issues and others, but the public vetting of Shapiro’s position on the Israel-Hamas War, rumblings of his personal ambitions and his handling of a sexual harassment allegation within his administration counted among critiques against his potential nomination.
Ultimately, Walz won out.
In a public statement, Shapiro said he was grateful to speak Sunday with Harris about the campaign and her vision for the vice presidency should she be voted into The White House. He called the decision both “deeply personal” and espoused a spirit of bipartisanship in referring to accomplishments and work remaining as he serves as governor.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has my enthusiastic support — and I know that Gov. Tim Walz is an exceptionally strong addition to the ticket who will help Kamala move our country forward,” he said. “Over the next 92 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind Kamala Harris’ campaign to defeat Donald Trump, become the 47th President of the United States, and build a better future for our country.”
Surprise
Alison Dagnes, an author and professor of political science at Shippensburg University, said the Walz pick was a surprise. She expected Shapiro because Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes among battleground states.
But, Walz will have progressive appeal in a non-progressive package, she said, who, like Shapiro, has a history of winning elections.
“I think that Shapiro would have been terrific. He has been on the national stage. I think a lot more Americans know who Josh Shapiro is than Tim Walz. It probably comes down to a bunch of smaller things that collided into one, and it’s possible the look of Harris-Walz was more attractive to them,” Dagnes said.
Daniel Mallinson, associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State-Harrisburg, said Walz brings balance to the biography of the Democratic presidential ticket — midwestern appeal and military service compared to Shapiro mirroring Harris as a former attorney general and perceived “coastal elite.”
The margin of victory in Pennsylvania was close in the past two presidential elections and that’s unlikely to change with or without Shapiro on the ticket, Mallinson said.
“I actually think this is a blessing in disguise. (Shapiro) clearly has national ambitions. This was a little fast for him. Personally, I think it will be better for him to spend more time as governor in a swing state, especially as a popular governor,” Mallinson said, referring to Shapiro’s consistently positive public opinion polling.
‘Out of touch’
Shapiro’s not so popular as to avoid ribs from conservative rivals after Walz was selected by Harris.
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, a Republican said Harris sets the tone as the top of the ticket — a tone of liberalism that she described as “out of touch with most Americans.”
“Although Shapiro was not selected as the vice-presidential nominee, he will still be responsible as the governor of an important swing state for endorsing an agenda on behalf of the democrats that includes illegal immigrants entering our country, the increase flow of fentanyl across our border, more crime on our streets, banning of our natural resources, and escalating inflation including increased energy and grocery prices,” Ward said in a statement.
At a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Tuesday, counterbalancing the Harris-Walz rally, Vance said, “I genuinely feel bad that for days, maybe weeks, (Josh Shapiro) actually had to run away from his Jewish heritage because of what the Democrats are saying about him. I think that’s scandalous and disgraceful.”
While Shapiro faced criticism for comments he made about pro-Palestinian protestors and an essay he wrote in college on the prospects of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, which he said he favors, he routinely champions his Jewish heritage rather than explaining it away. His support for Israel is why he was left off the ticket, Congressman Dan Meuser, a Republican, said.
“Kamala Harris choosing Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro proves that she is very comfortable with a Vice President whose ideology includes being a self-proclaimed socialist. They obviously passed on Shapiro for a number of reasons, but glaringly, he was passed on because of his strong support for Israel,” he said. “Frankly, that’s disgraceful. Together, the Harris-Walz ticket will embody a radical San Francisco ideology and will be dangerously liberal.”