House Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, lobbied for Vice President Kamala Harris to select Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate because of his strong ties to the lower chamber, Politico reported.
Pelosi and other House legislators pushed Harris to select Walz, who served in the House for 12 years, over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., neither of whom has served in the House.
Another consideration, according to Politico, was Walz's strong support among centrists and progressives. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., head of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, and Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., pushed for Harris to select Walz.
"The point is that Vice President Harris, by selecting Tim Walz, doesn't have to have a lot of these relationships in the House created because he already has them," said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., who served with Walz in the House.
"I always found Tim to be very independent," said Rep. Filemón Vela, D-Texas. "The reason that Nancy [Pelosi] has such a great deal of respect for him is because she knows that whenever there were situations that he did disagree with her, that he was also respectful about it."
Pelosi told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday that Walz is "wonderful," and rejected claims that he's a leftist, saying Walz is "right down the middle."
Pelosi added that Walz "is a heartland of America Democrat. He was the chair of our Veterans' Affairs Committee, and I don't want anybody to forget that — he made tremendous, tremendous gains for our veterans."