Anthony Zurcher-BBC North America correspondent
Kamala Harris has picked Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, as her running mate in the US presidential election, US media have reported.
Few people had Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on their early lists of possible Kamala Harris vice-presidential picks, but US media now reports that he will be on the Democratic ticket.
The former high-school teacher and football coach won attention among Democrats for his affable style and ability to land rhetorical blows on Donald Trump without seeming too aggressive.
The “weird” label he applied to the former president and his running mate became a Democratic mantra in just a matter of days – and it is now a standard part of Harris’s stump speech.
While Minnesota isn’t a battleground state, the Harris campaign may hope that Walz has mid-western cross-border appeal in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, which will help decide this election.
Walz also has a record of enacting progressive legislation in his state while defending it in a way that moderates and independent voters can understand. In his prior job as a congressman, he was able to win in a district that had a significant number of rural and Republican voters.
The governor may not have been a household name among Democrats a few weeks ago, but sometimes the dark horse wins the race.