'She did a really smart thing': Democratic voters like Harris's pick

A graphic of faces of voters who contributed
Ana Faguy
BBC News, Washington

It's been a busy couple of weeks in American politics since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.

On Tuesday, she made her selection for vice-president: Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and a former congressman, teacher and army veteran.

Josh Shapiro and Andy Beshear, the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, had been in the running, as had Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

The BBC spoke to Democratic voters on what they thought of the choice.

Latim Simon Peter, 33, Minnesota

Mr Peter was considering supporting a third-party candidate in November when Biden was still atop the ticket but now, he's fully backing Harris-Walz.

First of all, it's great for Minnesota to have someone on the ticket and yesterday everybody was going crazy over here.

He's great for the country because he does not bring too much baggage, maybe that is safer.

I struggled quite a bit when Biden was on the ticket and I was even leaning towards voting for a third party, so having Harris on the ticket gives me the option to vote for the ticket that I want to vote for.

On a typical day, in a normal situation, this should be a very straightforward easy choice for the American people given the history of the former president. But Trump's people vote and they show up, so this should not be taken for granted.

I hope Harris and Walz keep the momentum.

Ms Vaughn, who grew up in a Republican household but votes Democrat, wants to see Mr Walz in a debate with Trump's running-mate JD Vance.

He's a teacher of 20 years, he's a rural Democrat, I'm a teacher, I'm a rural Democrat. He's an IVF parent, I'm also an infertility parent.

He's a great pick, I think this is going to add a lot of energy to the campaign, he offers so much.

The Harris-Walz ticket is going to be incredibly competitive with the Trump-Vance ticket.

I would love to see the two VP candidates debate. You have someone who is actually from rural America - who still works as a farmer - versus someone who left his rural roots as quickly as he could and then proceeded to profit off of them after his Ivy League education.

Rural communities had [it] really rough under Trump. We lost our child tax credits, IVF has been under attack since Roe [the federal right to abortion] was dismantled.

This gives hope that maybe we will have a strong advocate for those aspects of life that are so close to mothers and children and teachers.

Mr Mansfield believes the Harris-Walz ticket would fight to protect women's rights and the LGBTQ community.

What I have learned about the VP pick is that he has fought for the rights of women to have agency over their own bodies (if we had policies limiting men’s abilities to make decisions about their bodies, there would be riots and revolts), he passed sensible gun policies, legalized recreational marijuana, passed paid family leave, and restored voting rights and invested $1 billion in affordable housing.

I’m so much more hopeful than I was a few weeks ago when our candidate was a president who clearly no longer had the mental capacity to compete with the viciousness of [Trump and his supporters].

I believe that Harris/Walz will work hard to find a pathway to more humane laws, to protect working class people, and to honour the rights of women to make their own choices about their bodies, and to stand up for the LBGTQ+ community.

I’m stoked and look forward to victory in November.

Ms Tye initially preferred Mark Kelly as the VP choice but her research on Mr Walz has turned her head.

I'm excited. Walz brings something to the party that Shapiro doesn't and somehow Kelly doesn't seem to either.

He's a fun, engaging guy who gives fun interviews and he has a background that I think a lot of Americans can appreciate.

I think she [Ms Harris] did a really smart thing.

Somebody who's a gun guy could bring in some of the people who are really hesitant to vote for an anti-gun Liberal, but Walz has a hunting background and at one point had a positive rating with the NRA.

I really appreciate that he's worked really hard with kids. I love that he facilitated a gay-straight alliance when he was a teacher and he's really worked to make sure that people have a minimum wage that is adequate.

Kamala and Walz will blow the Republicans out of the water.

Mr Chandler thinks Mr Walz is the perfect choice to shore up Democratic support.

Looking at all Walz's policies, he's a very progressive pick.

I really like that he stood up for unions, I really appreciate that he fought so hard for kids to be able to have free lunches in schools in his state.

He has been very adamant about needing peace in Gaza.

I'm really happy with the pick because he feels more inspiring, he reminds me of a really nice grandpa, even though he's basically the same age as Kamala Harris.

I like that someone who has been a big proponent of helping people who are struggling is the pick. It's what we need right now in this country.

The Harris-Walz ticket is more representative of the wider American public than the Trump-Vance ticket: it makes me feel a lot more inspired for this election.

Ms Mendenhall said she would have reluctantly voted for Mr Biden and Ms Harris. Now she's excited by the Harris-Walz ticket.

I was pleasantly surprised, it seemed like it was going to go to Josh Shapiro but I think Tim Walz was the better choice.

I don't know that much about him but I know he's been a really good governor in Minnesota and seems to support progressive values.

I'm cautiously optimistic, I know it's going to be difficult, but Walz compared to Vance - there's really no comparison.

I would love to see the two of them debate, I don't know if that will happen, but I do feel pretty good about it.

It's amazing how within a matter of a few weeks the outlook for the election really turned around.

With Biden and Harris there was essentially no hope of winning, but now there is at least a fighting chance to win.

More on US election

Related topics

More on this story