In office, he signed bills enshrining reproductive rights, protecting gender-affirming care, and legalizing recreational use of marijuana. He also approved funding for free school meals for children, free tuition at public colleges for students in families earning under $80,000 a year, a paid family and medical leave program, and health insurance coverage regardless of a person’s immigration status.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Walz brings a “proven ability to repeatedly and consistently win in rural and swing districts and to implement a strong, progressive agenda that provides opportunity and freedom for all.”
“As Governor, Tim Walz worked with advocates, voters, and the legislature to pass many priorities reflected in the Biden-Harris agenda and now the Harris campaign agenda, including guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, protecting abortion rights, historic investments in affordable housing, strengthening labor rights, defending voter rights and enforcing universal background checks,” Jayapal posted on social media.
Ahead of the decision, close to 50 leading progressives wrote to Harris to urge her to pick either Walz or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
“Governors Tim Walz and Andy Beshear are persuasive advocates for core Democratic values and will energize voters across America without marginalizing any of the communities that we must engage to win the electoral college,” the progressives, who included California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Chair Emeritus Amar Shergill, wrote.
The group’s main desire was that Harris not pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.
“Governor Shapiro, although a valued member of the Democratic coalition, has made too many controversial policy decisions on issues such as school choice and the environment to be the consensus voice our nation needs right now,” they wrote.
Others expressed worries about Shapiro’s strong support for Israel and the possibility that his stance could alienate progressive voters who are concerned about the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Harris already garnered the support of leading progressives like Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York before her vice president decision. Still, going with Shapiro would have risked creating a crack in what had otherwise been overwhelming support from the Democratic Party since she announced she was running for president.
Progressive support for Harris is not a surprise, considering the alternative would be former President Donald Trump. And while Trump and his surrogates are eager to characterize Harris as so liberal as to be out of touch with mainstream America, there are certain issues on which progressives hope to push Harris further left.
Sanders recently said that Harris should run on a progressive economic agenda that includes expanding Social Security benefits by making the wealthy pay the same tax rate as the working class, expanding Medicare, cutting the cost of prescription drugs, and hiking taxes on rich and multinational corporations.
“Indeed, it is the formula that could give Harris the sort of victory that sweeps in a Democratic Senate and House and allows her to govern in the best tradition of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Joe Biden’s Build Back Better program,” Sanders wrote in an opinion for The Guardian.
Notably, Harris has moved to the center on a couple of issues she ran on during her 2020 presidential bid, including reversing her stance on a fracking ban.
Though the focus for now is on Harris winning the election, expect progressives to ramp up the pressure on certain issues – including abortion access and climate change – if she does become president.
For example, restoring protections promised under Roe v. Wade won’t be enough for certain reproductive rights groups, who will likely push for abortion protections to go further under a potential Harris administration. And climate advocates, while happy with Harris and Walz on the ticket, will probably want to see progress on slashing fossil fuel production.
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