Harris highlights Walz as teacher, coach as they take the stage as a ticket in Philly

PHILADELPHIA – Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz took the stage before thousands of supporters for the first time as a presidential ticket Tuesday, hours after she announced her choice of the Minnesota governor as her running mate.

Harris made it apparent that Walz’s mix of experience as a six-term congressman who often worked across the aisle representing a rural district, a governor and a former teacher made him stand out from other serious contenders, a list that included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

When she set out on her search, Harris said she wanted to find someone who could help unite the country, be a “fighter for the middle class” and who believed in “freedom, opportunity, justice not just for some but for all.”

She focused on Walz’s key accomplishments as governor, from signing universal free school meals for students, creating a statewide paid leave program, to signing sweeping abortion and voting rights protections into law.

If elected, she said they would expand those policies in Washington together.

“When I am president of the United States and we win the majority in the United States Congress, we will pass a bill to restore reproductive freedom,” Harris said.

Democrats view abortion rights as an issue that will once again help their chances heading into November. Harris said they would also work to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and universal background checks for gun owners.

In introducing Walz, Harris focused on his everyman qualities as a former teacher, high school football coach and National Guardsman. Some Harris supporters in Pennsylvania agreed that Walz’s past outside of politics can help the ticket and make him relatable to voters.

“He seems like he’s really grounded, has been grounded in the community, and has that point of view,” said Rasheeda King of Abington, Pa., a longtime former teacher who likes that Walz is a former teacher and coach. “He will be able to relate and to, I guess, kind of be a liaison for the regular person.”

Walz played up his willingness to work with Republicans in Congress to get results when he spoke to the packed crowd.

“I worked across the aisle on veterans issues, on agriculture and on ways to grow rural economies,” Walz said. “I learned the art of compromise without compromising my values.”

Walz also talked about his family’s journey with in vitro fertilization (IVF) and tied his Republican vice presidential opponent, Sen. J.D. Vance, to the controversial Project 2025 and snubbed him for studying at Yale.

“I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said.

Stumping earlier today in Pennsylvania, Vance said, ‘’I absolutely want to debate Tim Walz,’’ but not until after the Democratic convention. In his first public comments since his general election foe was set, Vance on Tuesday called Walz a choice that “highlights how radical Kamala Harris is.”

Talking to reporters aboard his campaign plane upon landing in Philadelphia, Vance claimed Walz ”is a person who listens to the Hamas wing” of the Democratic Party and ‘’who wants to make the American people more reliant on garbage energy instead of good American energy.’’

Harris noted her and Walz’s different backgrounds: She’s from Oakland, Calif., and he’s from Nebraska, but they have common ideals. ‘’After all, the promise of America is what makes it possible for two middle-class kids,’’ Harris said, ‘’to make it all the way to the White House.’’

‘’Coach Walz and I may come from different corners of our country,’’ she said, ‘’but we believe in picking people up, not knocking them down.’’

And without naming Vance, Harris argued for the superiority of her running mate’s experience over his GOP rival, using a sports analogy as the former football coach stood by. Saying Walz would be ‘’ready on day one,’’ Harris characterized the race between her running mate and Vance as ‘’a matchup between the varsity team and the JV squad.’’

Walz helped shift his own party’s attack on Republicans from painting them as an existential threat to democracy, with Walz settling on the term “weird” for their views on abortion and bans on books, a buzzword that was key to putting him on the vice presidential map.

On Tuesday, he doubled down on the term. “These guys are creepy, and yes, just weird as hell.”

For Karrin Stone of Exton, Pa., Walz got her attention when he said “weird.”

Stone admits she did not know much about him, but since his name was thrown in the mix of Harris’ potential vice presidential picks, she started doing research.

“I think it’s a great choice,” Stone said, even though she admits she would have preferred Shapiro. “He’s funny. He’s just everything.”

Stone said Walz’s free lunch program especially stood out to her and the fact he was a former social studies teacher.

“Weird” is also what got Sean Bonner of New Jersey, a regular visitor to Pennsylvania, hooked on Walz.

Bonner admits he would not have been able to say who Walz was last month, even though he follows politics “very, very closely.”

Bonner too said Shapiro would have been his first choice, but he thinks Walz has a lot more experience between his career in Congress and as governor.

“He’s a father. He’s somebody relatable. He’s somebody that seems down to earth,” Bonner said. “And you don’t necessarily always need the flashy — flashy doesn’t do great.”

“He was the first one to put forward the ‘weird’ remark and that has caught fire in our party. And it’s fantastic,” Bonner added.

Harris and Walz are now headed to other battleground states as they tour the country together for the first time. Their next stop is Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wis., then Michigan and later Arizona and Nevada at the end of the week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.