Kamala Harris picks Minnesota's Tim Walz for vice president

FILE PHOTO: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks to the press after attending a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democratic governors at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate on Tuesday, choosing a plain speaker from America's heartland to help her take the fight to Republican rival Donald Trump.

Minnesota's Democratic governor since 2018 and a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, Walz, 60, has been a schoolteacher, football coach, hunter and gun owner and has deep connections to rural American voters who in recent years have voted broadly for Trump - all of which are qualities that make Walz a good partner, said a source close to the selection process.