Minnesota Catholics React to Walz as Harris’ VP Choice
Kamala Harris has called a familiar play from the Democrats’ presidential election playbook: tapping a running mate from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets the audience at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia Aug. 6. (photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
In her bid for the White House, Kamala Harris has called a familiar play from the Democrats’ presidential election playbook: tapping a running mate from Minnesota.
Gov. Tim Walz, who Harris announced as her vice-president pick on Tuesday, joins the ranks of Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, two other Land of 10,000 Lakes politicians who successfully ran on the Democratic ticket as VP, in 1964 and 1976 respectively.
Tony Annett, a Catholic economist, noted the connection, suggesting that Walz was a “genuine Midwestern populist” in the Minnesota tradition, representing “the old-school social democratic wing of the Democratic Party.”
But some Minnesota Catholics are warning that Walz, whose parents are Catholic but who is presently a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, shouldn’t be expected to carry his fellow Gopher State politicians’ legacy of moderate liberal politics forward.
“Walz will change all of that, as he holds extreme views on many issues, issues which are in direct opposition to Church teaching,” said Shawn Peterson, who worked in Minnesota state politics for decades and now directs Catholic Education Partners, a school-choice advocacy group.
In particular, Peterson cited Walz’s support for expanding access to abortion and transgender medical procedures, as Minnesota has seen sweeping progressive reforms under his tenure, with Democrats controlling both branches of the state Legislature and the governor’s mansion.
Walz’s commitment to core progressive social issues was likely a part of why Harris tapped him to be her running mate. But the Democratic presidential contender is also clearly banking on Walz’s Midwestern street cred and previous success courting moderates to help her with voters in pivotal states like Wisconsin and Michigan.
Time will tell if Democrats’ ability to present him as a humble everyman carries the day over Republican efforts to paint Walz as a progressive extremist.
For some Catholics familiar with Walz’s six-year tenure, the clear focus is on the Minnesota governor’s track record on life and culture issues.
“As a Catholic, I cannot but see his abortion and transgender extremism, as well as his pushing of divisive cultural policies in schools, as extremely destructive to the common good in Minnesota,” said David Deavel, a theologian who lived in Minnesota for decades before moving to Texas two years ago.
Walz, who once joked that he was so pro-abortion that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told him to moderate his position, has overseen a dramatic expansion of abortion access in Minnesota. In 2023, he signed legislation that would make it easier for out-of-staters to get abortions in Minnesota and codified a “right to abortion” in the state earlier in the year. Walz, who joined Harris when she visited a Minnesota abortion facility in March, has also approved the removal of abortion regulations and state programs that funded alternatives.
The Democratic governor has also issued executive orders establishing Minnesota as a “sanctuary state” for out-of-staters seeking transgender medical procedures. He has also signed legislation that bans so-called “conversion therapy” and made it illegal to remove books from libraries because they contain LGBTQ themes.
Minnesota State Rep. Joe McDonald, a Republican and Catholic, said Walz has “not been a champion” for religious believers in Minnesota, but has allowed a “hostile environment” to emerge. In particular, the state lawmaker was critical of Walz for failing to criticize 2023 state legislation that sought to give people identifying as transgender protected status without guaranteeing religious-liberty exemptions.
“It was a slap in the face of those who have done so many great things in our state for so long,” said McDonald, citing Catholic orphanages, hospitals and other charitable organizations.
This year, Walz approved new legislation that added religious-liberty protections to Minnesota’s human-rights statutes, a measure that was strongly supported by the state’s Catholic bishops.
Walz, a former public-school educator who has championed IVF and has shared that one of his two children was conceived through the process, has also been fierce in his opposition to school-choice measures that have been championed by Minnesota Catholic organizations, equating them to defunding public schools.
While Walz enjoys a favorable approval rating and easily won reelection in 2022, some Minnesota Catholics are adamant that his leadership has made it more difficult to raise their families faithfully.
John Mansfield, a city councilman and small business owner in the small town of Waseca, said that with Walz’s support for things like legal marijuana and transgender rights, progressive cultural values have become “pervasive” and “in your face.”
“It’s a challenge living in Minnesota with the way things are under his leadership,” said Mansfield, adding that he and his wife have decided to move from Minnesota with their six kids.
Harris picked Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had been the odds-on favorite, likely because Shapiro’s criticism of pro-Palestinian protests and volunteer service in the Israeli military represented a liability with the Democrats’ progressive base.
Instead, she went with the more reliably progressive Walz, who has supported a “working cease-fire” in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The pick likely won’t make a difference in the outcome in Minnesota, which polls indicate is now back to being safely “blue” after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection and Democrats coalesced around Harris.
But Walz has already demonstrated himself as a capable attack dog. He was the first Democrat to call Republican opponents Donald Trump and JD Vance “weird,” suggesting he won’t shy away from a fight on the campaign trail.
Additionally, pundits have suggested that Walz’s folksy mannerisms and “Midwestern Dad” vibes could provide a possible boost for the Harris campaign in key battleground states with sizable working-class constituencies, like Pennsylvania, Michigan and neighboring Wisconsin.
However, some Catholics familiar with Walz’s tenure in Minnesota say his track record doesn’t match his “Minnesota nice” demeanor, though some note areas of overlap between Walz and the Church’s social teaching.
Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), told the Register that Walz has worked with Minnesota’s bishops to promote the well-being of immigrants and economic security for families, including signing a generous child tax credit into law. Adkins also commended Walz for orientating Minnesota’s budget priorities around families’ ability to raise kids, even though the bishops’ conference doesn’t agree with every application of this principle, such as Walz’s “vehement opposition to parental choice in education.”
At the same time, Adkins criticized Walz as a “strident supporter” of expanding abortion access and described the governor’s support for Minnesota’s “transgender sanctuary laws” as “most troubling.”
Following a standoff between the governor and bishops over COVID-19-related church closures in May 2020, Adkins said the MCC has “had a good line of communication and an open door with the Walz administration,” noting that Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Catholic, has been “a helpful intermediary.” Adkins said the meetings between Walz and the bishops “highlight areas of common ground and are frank about areas of disagreement.”
“Fortunately, Gov. Walz has relented on many questions related to religious liberty when confronted with strong ecumenical and interfaith coalitions,” said Adkins. “He does understand the important contributions faith-based institutions make at every level of communal life.”
Adkins suggested that this quality could be especially relevant if Harris is elected president. Some have suggested she has a track record of targeting Catholics.
“[Her] record suggests that the Church and other faith communities will have to unite as much as possible on important matters of religious liberty and common concern and work with Gov. Walz if they want a sympathetic ear in the White House,” Adkins said.
But Peterson speculated that the Minnesota governor is now more likely to participate in a highly progressive Harris administration agenda than he is to moderate it.
And while Walz has previously cited the influence of his parents’ “Catholic social-justice traditions” growing up in Nebraska, Peterson said that the possible future vice president does not seem to have embraced the totality of the Church’s social teaching.
“He appears to be yet another victim of poor catechesis, and we may all suffer because of it.”
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