LUVERNE, MN (KELO) — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate has come as somewhat of a surprise, even to his supporters in Minnesota.
Many thought Walz was a dark-horse among the other Democrats in the running.
Voters in Luverne think it’s a smart pick, while others believe Walz will be a drag on the ticket.
Many voters in southwest Minnesota didn’t see it coming.
“I just don’t know what to think right now. I’m pretty surprised,” Phyllis Swenson of Luverne, MN said.
“I didn’t think somebody from the state of Minnesota would ever get picked,” Barb VonHoltum of Magnolia, MN.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Governor Tim Walz as her running mate even has one Minnesota Republican no longer considering a straight party-line vote this fall.
“Well, most of the time, I just do Republican. But this time, I’m going to separate and do Republican and Democrat and see what happens,” (laughs) Shirley Clark of Luverne, MN said.
Bear in mind, Rock County is a very Republican. So most of the people we spoke with aren’t at all impressed with Harris’s selection as vice-president. But some grudgingly give Walz good marks for how he’s run the state.
“We’re in the black, so apparently he’s okay. But other than that, like I say, I’m a Republican,” Larry Harms of Luverne MN said.
Other Minnesotans think Walz is too liberal to be vice-president and hasn’t been a champion of rural interests as governor.
“I never really liked what Walz has done for Minnesota. I felt like he’s done more for the cities than like this part of Minnesota, this small area that we’re in,” VonHoltum said.
Some voters see the Walz selection as bringing added political clout to the state. A race for the White House that’s putting Minnesota front and center.
Other people we spoke with say that since Walz has been in the public eye for a long time, both as a U.S. congressman and now governor, they don’t think he’ll have any political skeletons in his closet that will prove to be an embarrassment to the Democratic ticket.
