Vice President Kamala Harris announced today that she had selected Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, betting that his Midwestern appeal and plain-spoken attacks on Republicans will help her defeat Donald Trump on Election Day.

Until recently, the 60-year-old Walz was largely unknown outside of his home state. But his national profile rose quickly over the last two weeks, fueled by his catchy attacks on Trump and Republicans, whom he described as “weird.” Walz and Harris appeared together at a rally in Philadelphia tonight for the first time as the Democratic ticket.

Walz is a former football coach and schoolteacher who served for 24 years in the Army National Guard. He got his start in politics in 2006 by winning a congressional race in a rural, largely conservative district of Minnesota. He edged out better-known vice-presidential contenders, in part, because Harris was impressed by his folksy charm, and by his backing of liberal policies like paid family leave. Here’s more on why Walz was chosen, his policy positions and his climate record.

“Walz doesn’t represent a crucial swing state,” Jess Bidgood, who writes our On Politics newsletter, told me. “So, in choosing Walz, Harris has calculated that, in a hypersonic political campaign, Democrats need fellow feeling, and fun, more than they need a conventional political advantage.”

Republicans see openings to cast Walz as overly liberal, especially on public safety, and his critics resurfaced a decades-old drunken driving arrest. But Democratic leaders have broadly embraced the new ticket.

Here’s what else to know:

• Democratic and Republican primaries are taking place in a number of high-profile races today.

• Trump sought to blame yesterday’s stock market troubles on Harris.

• Trump said that Elon Musk will interview him on Monday.

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