North Dakota Democrats view Walz as ‘champion’ for rural America

North Dakota Democrats believe Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be a champion for rural America and reacted positively in the first hours after Kamala Harris picked Walz as her running mate.

State House Minority Leader Rep. Zachary Ista, D-Grand Forks, said Walz seems to have a “down-to-earth, Midwest demeanor,” that he thinks will play well on the Harris ticket this fall. 

Vice President Harris named Walz her running mate on Tuesday after officially becoming the Democrats’ nominee for president.

“You can really see how effective of a football coach he must have been,” Ista said. “He’s just a guy you really want to run through the wall for because he really motivates you both through his words and as governor through his actions.”

Ista said Walz has implemented a lot of things in Minnesota that the Dem-NPL party is advocating for in North Dakota, such as universal school lunches and addressing child care concerns.

Nick Archuleta, president of ND United, the union that represents teachers and other public employees, said Walz’s years as a teacher in Minnesota give him a unique understanding of the issues affecting teachers and education more broadly.

“He is a very big proponent of making sure that our students have what they need to succeed and I think that kind of voice in the White House will be a very, very good thing,” Archuleta said. 

He also said he believes Walz will be a stronger voice for rural America.

“Maybe one thing that will come from all of this is that we’ll stop thinking of this area as fly-over country,” Archuleta said. “I think that has been a voice that has been missing for too long, particularly from Democrats, in politics.”

In a social media post, former North Dakota U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp congratulated Harris on picking Walz and added she believes him to be a champion for rural America. She also applauded his values as a “hotdish aficionado,” sharing a story that he won the congressional hotdish competition three times as a member of Congress.

North Dakota leaders have disagreed with Walz on energy policy, arguing in comments this summer that Minnesota’s carbon-free energy standard may be unconstitutional. The North Dakota Industrial Commission, led by Gov. Doug Burgum, objects to Minnesota’s policy requiring utility providers in the state to use carbon free electricity sources by 2040, including electricity that comes from across state lines.

In an interview on Newsmax on Tuesday, Burgum blasted Walz.

“His policies have been great for three things. They’ve been great for North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa because all three states are benefiting from Minnesota’s economic and tax policies because people and businesses are moving out of the state and moving to places where they’ve got lower taxes and lower regulation,” Burgum said.

In a social media post, U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said he likes Republican chances this November with Walz as Harris’ pick for vice president.

“Perhaps together the two of them can let every city in America burn to the ground after closing businesses and requiring vaccines,” Cramer said in a post on X. “Harris has doubled down on weird with this choice, unless MN really is in play.”

This story was originally published by the North Dakota Monitor