Josh Shapiro and Tim Walz are being mentioned as the top contenders for Kamala Harris' vice president. Who are these politicians and why do they have a good chance of becoming the second person in the United States?
The Democratic presidential candidate is expected to Kamala Harris will announce his choice today, ahead of his first public appearance as vice presidential candidate. It is scheduled to take place tonight at Temple University in Philadelphia. Harris narrowed the choice of the vice presidential candidate to two people: Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Reuters reported on Monday, citing three sources.
Josh Shapiro – who is he?
Joshua David Shapiro was born on June 20, 1973, the son of a pediatrician and a teacher mother. He was raised in Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Rochester with a degree in political science, he began working in government, serving as an aide to Senator Robert Torricelli while studying law part-time. In 2004, he was elected to the House of Representatives.
He served as Pennsylvania's attorney general from 2017 to 2023. Shortly after being sworn in, he involved his office in an investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The investigation resulted in reportwhich found that more than 300 sexual predator priests have been credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses over the past seven decades.
Josh ShapiroWILL OLIVER/EPA/PAP
Shapiro has been governor of Pennsylvania since 2023. As Time magazine notes, the politician has a “track record of pragmatic policymaking” that has helped him win favor among elected Democrats and Republicans, business and labor leaders, as well as Muslims and Jews.
“We believe that weighing the pros and cons would persuade many voters, especially those undecided, to vote for Harris and Shapiro,” we read on the Time website. Sky News, in turn, indicates that the election of Shapiro would have “historic significance” for the Democratic Party: he has a chance to become the first Jewish vice president in history. USA.
The choice of the 51-year-old as vice presidential candidate is also indicated because as a white heterosexual man he could fight for the votes of other groups of voters, thus “complementing” Harris, and could also win support for the Democrats in one of the most important “swing states”, Pennsylvania, which, according to research, is necessary to achieve a complete victory in the elections scheduled for November 5.
Josh Shapiro's name also appears in the context of the high-profile case of Ellen Greenberg's death in the United States. The woman's family disagrees with the official recognition of her death as a suicide, pointing out that the deceased had 20 knife wounds on her body. When the investigation into the woman's death was referred to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office in 2018, Shapiro was its head. He also led it when the Office upheld the thesis that the cause of the 27-year-old's death was suicide in 2019, and in 2022, when the Office once again upheld its position after reconsidering the case.
SEE ALSO: She had 20 knife wounds, it was ruled a suicide. One of the “most mysterious” cases returns to court
Tim Walz – who is he?
Timothy James Walz was born on April 6, 1964, in Nebraska. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the National Guard, a reserve branch of the United States Army. He attended Chadron State College and graduated with a degree in social science. Before entering politics, he worked as a high school teacher and coach, among other jobs.
Tim WaltzPAP/EPA
He retired from the National Guard in 2005 after 24 years of service. A year later, he won his first seat in the House of Representatives as a candidate from Minnesota. He has been governor of that state since 2019. Why is he a likely candidate for vice president? The former member of Congress from a Republican district, as Reuters notes, “has proven to be an attractive choice for rural white voters, although as governor he also advocated for free school meals and expanded paid leave for workers.”
At the same time, the politician, just a few months older than Kamala Harris, “looks much older to critics, which could be a drag on the campaign, which is rebounding from Biden's resignation over concerns about his age,” Reuters writes.
SEE ALSO: 'I didn't know she was black.' Storm over Donald Trump's 'disgusting' words about Kamala Harris
CNN, Reuters, Time, tvn24.pl
Main image source: WILL OLIVER/EPA/PAP, SHAWN THEW/EPA/PAP