Walz Brings Ag Committee Experience as VP Pick

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, a politician who the Hagstrom Report’s Jerry Hagstrom reported “has deep roots in agriculture, having been elected to the U.S. House (in 2007) from a mainly rural district in southern Minnesota and serving on the House Agriculture Committee until he became governor (in 2019).”

“While on the Agriculture Committee, Walz served on the House Agriculture Forestry Subcommittee and the House Agriculture Commodity Markets, Digital Assets and Rural Development Subcommittee,” Hagstrom reported. “…Walz was involved in drafting and passing the 2008, 2014 and 2018 farm bills. As governor, Walz joined other Midwest governors to push the Environmental Protection Agency to allow those states to sell E15 year-round and in other actions to support and promote biofuels.”

Agriculture-Related Work in Congress and as Governor

Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported Tuesday that “Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, has a long history of working with Walz through his time as both governor and a former congressman from southern Minnesota who served for six terms on the House Agriculture Committee.”

“‘He does understand rural very well and he’s got a rural background,’ Wertish said,” according to Clayton. “‘He’s been a strong supporter of agriculture through his years as a congressman and working on farm bills and especially renewable fuels. Those are big issues in rural Minnesota.'”

Hagstrom reported that “four of the top candidates to join Harris on the Democratic ticket have supported universal free meals, but Walz is the only one who succeeded in getting a state law passed to establish the free meals and fund them, Food Service Director reported.”

“Walz also noted that Minnesota has been the biggest recipient of USDA’s Rural Energy for America grants,” Hagstrom reported. “He also said he shares Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s views that the government should help smaller farmers achieve more streams of income because profits in farming are so concentrated among the biggest farmers.”

Kamala taps Tim Walz to be her VP, adding strong rural credentials and agriculture policy experience to the ticket

Could be a boost for Dems, who have struggled to maintain rural support in recent elections

More on Walz’s ag record with @meredithllee https://t.co/jhcPT3Wjpv

— Grace Yarrow (@YarrowGrace) August 6, 2024

In addition, Clayton reported that “in 2020, Walz also joined South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and then-Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts — all Republicans — in asking Trump administration EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to reject 52 petroleum refiner applications for retroactive small refinery exemptions from the Renewable Fuels Standard.”

Roll Call’s Olivia M. Bridges reported Tuesday that Walz “sponsored legislation during his last term in the 115th Congress to expand veterans’ access to farm programs, and some provisions were incorporated into the 2018 farm bill. Those provisions expanded access to farm education and training and all USDA agriculture programs to individuals who obtained veteran status within the last decade.”

Stance on Trade

Politico Staff reported on Tuesday that “Walz has a record of voting against trade deals — a signal that the Democratic ticket would continue the Biden administration’s approach to a ‘worker centered’ trade policy that elevates labor and environmental standards above commercial interests. In Congress, Walz voted against a free trade deal with Peru in 2007 and opposed deals with Panama and Colombia. He reversed that trend by supporting a deal with South Korea in 2011. In 2015, he opposed legislation along with a majority of House Democrats that would have made it easier for former President Barack Obama to seal the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies.”

“Still, as governor of the fourth largest agricultural exporting state he does not reject the value of trade,” Politico reported. “Walz promised to expand agricultural markets during his gubernatorial campaign in 2018. The next year, he said that Minnesota’s farmers remain in need of stable trade relations with China in remarks recapping a delegation visit to Japan and South Korea.”

Trump Campaign Responds

Clayton reported that “the Trump-Vance campaign quickly described Walz as ‘a dangerous liberal extremist,’ and a ‘West Coast wannabe.’ The campaign linked to a 2017 Republican Governors Association video in which Walz described red states as ‘mostly cows and rocks.’ Trump had been paying more attention to Minnesota in hopes of flipping the state.”