WASHINGTON — Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who burst into national view after calling Republicans “weird,” will be Kamala Harris’ running mate on the November Democratic ticket.
Walz has expressed repeated support for Israel’s existence, including this year; has drawn the endorsement of pro-Israel groups; and, after Oct. 7, condemned Hamas and those who did not immediately do so themselves.
“If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning [Oct. 7, 2023], and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at,” Walz said at a vigil held at Congregation Beth El in suburban Minneapolis, according to a local report.
“What was evident on Saturday morning was the absolute lack of humanity, the terrorism and the barbarism,” Walz said. “That’s not a geopolitical discussion. That’s murder.”
This spring, he urged the Democratic Party to take pro-Palestinian protesters seriously and include them in the party’s thinking, while also condemning hostility toward Jewish students at campus protests against Israel.
“I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” he said on a local PBS program.
“Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.”
At an event held by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas this past June, he expressed support for Zionism and said those who do not recognize Israel are anti-Semitic.
“The ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational,” he said in comments that the council shared on YouTube. “The failure to recognize the state of Israel is taking away that self-determination. So it is anti-Semitic.”
The Zionist Organization of America raised concerns about Walz’s past expressions of support for Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, among Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress.
Israel and foreign policy have largely not been Walz’s focus during his 20 years in politics, which followed careers in the US military and teaching high school.
He first ran for Congress in 2006 after attending a boot camp for aspiring elected officials run by a nonprofit created to honor Paul and Sheila Wellstone, a Minnesota Jewish senator and his wife who died in a plane crash.
In Congress, Walz he joined the committees on agriculture and veterans affairs as well as caucuses that included the arts and LGBTQ affairs.
He traveled to Israel on a 2009 diplomatic trip to the Middle East during which he met with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad.
He voted with his party to allocate foreign aid, including to Israel, and to back the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Since being elected governor in 2018, Walz has advanced policies protecting abortion rights, expanding paid family leave and ensuring free school meals for all children, including immigrants.
He has condemned instances of anti-Semitism and this year he called for strengthening Holocaust education in Minnesota schools.
Said Marc Mellman, chair of the PAC affiliation with the Democratic Majority for Israel:
“Not only is Governor Walz an accomplished and beloved leader in the state of Minnesota, having been elected five times to the House of Representatives and twice to the governorship, but he is also a proud pro-Israel Democrat with a strong record of supporting the US-Israel relationship,”
“We know the Harris-Walz team will stand up for our shared values, protect our community, and pursue smart, pro-Israel, pro-peace leadership abroad. We’re all in,” said J Street, which has endorsed Walz in the past.
When he was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, Josh Shapiro declared victory by quoting a famous adage from Pirkei Avot.
Now, after losing the battle to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, Shapiro has turned to the same adage by Rabbi Tarfon, a sage who lived nearly 2,000 years ago.
“Since I first ran for State Representative 20 years ago, I’ve been called to serve because I want to leave our community, our Commonwealth, and our country better off for our children — and because my faith teaches me that no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it,” Shapiro, following Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Aug. 5.
Shapiro’s statement came after a two-week period when he was thought to be one of the frontrunners in Harris’ veepstakes. He and Walz were reportedly the final two contenders.
The distinction between them had been framed as a choice between one swing-state governor — Shapiro — with a reputation for centrism and bipartisanship, and another — Walz — with a folksy demeanor and cachet with the party’s progressive wing.
Rumors that Shapiro was the leading candidate ignited a campaign by progressives to sink his bid, focused on his support for Israel, his criticism of anti-Israel college student protesters and his positions that buck Democratic norms.
Several of Shapiro’s Jewish allies, noting that Walz also has a pro-Israel record, suggested that the anti-Shapiro effort was anti-Semitic. No parallel anti-Walz campaign emerged in the public eye.
Shapiro, who is involved in his Philadelphia-area Jewish community, didn’t address those allegations. He said he “was grateful to have the opportunity to speak with the vice president directly about her vision for the role and the campaign ahead.”
“As I’ve said repeatedly over the past several weeks, the running mate decision was a deeply personal decision for the vice president and it was also a deeply personal decision for me.”
He congratulated Walz and his wife, whom he referred to as “Tim and Gwen,” and whom he called “good friends of ours.”
He wrote that Harris “has my enthusiastic support,” and he pledged to campaign for her in Pennsylvania, seen by many analysts as a must-win state.
Shapiro took office at the beginning of last year, and recommitted in his statement to serving as Pennsylvania’s governor, referring back to the Rabbi Tarfon passage.
“Pennsylvanians elected me to a four-year term as their Governor, and my work here is far from finished. There is a lot more stuff I want to get done for the good people of this Commonwealth,” he wrote.
“In just 19 months, we’ve made a meaningful, positive impact in peoples’ lives, and I’m proud of how Americans all across the country have taken notice of what we’re accomplishing here in Pennsylvania.”