Utah Democrats are excited.
First, it was when Harris ascended to the top of the presidential ticket. Now, it’s because of her VP pick: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
After Ben Anderson, a 23-year-old delegate who will represent Utah at this month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, learned more about Walz, he began “hoping that he would be the pick.”
“I definitely think the energy around Gov. Walz is really, really exciting. I think people in the party are excited about him, and he also has a really unique ability, I think, to reach voters who are not solid, hardcore Democrats.”
In choosing the 60-year-old Walz, Harris is turning to a Midwestern governor, military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights, aid to families and LGBTQ+ and transgender protections.
“It's great to have him on the team,” Harris wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Now let's get to work.”
In 2022, Walz did well with Minnesota’s union households, winning nearly 6 in 10 voters in that group and he won the state’s young voters according to an Associated Press review of voter data. While Utah isn’t known for its union ties, both of the dominant parties here have struggled to maintain and grow a young voting bloc.
Younger generations weren’t enthusiastic about the age of President Joe Biden, 81, or former President Donald Trump, 78. Anderson believes Walz’s political record will resonate with younger voters, hopefully motivating them in November.
“Young people care a lot about policy. And I think looking at the record of Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz, there is a strong list of policy accomplishments there on issues that matter to Americans,” he said. “I think that is exciting to young people, and I think that energy and excitement is going to continue.”
Utah Democratic Party spokesperson Mason Hughes said Walz was “the best pick” as Harris’s running mate because of his track record.
“He's got the experience fighting for working families in Minnesota, getting things like a $35 a month cap on insulin, and passing paid family leave and fighting for reproductive rights.”
Hughes is 21 years old himself and the ticket resonates with him because “they have a commitment to fighting for working families.” As far as voter turnout goes, he predicts an increase in the number of young people who show up to vote.
“I think young people are excited about Vice President Harris,” Hughes said. “Some people have compared it to the excitement that young people had in 2008 with the [Barack] Obama campaign.”
While Utah is a reliably red state, some Republican voters have felt disenfranchised by the direction of the party and Trump as its nominee. Hughes said he’s seen the change in some of his Republican family members. To him, Walz is the right choice as vice president to mobilize moderate conservatives, independent and unaffiliated voters who don’t want to cast a ballot for Trump.
Harris and Walz “represent American values and they have a clear commitment to not only upholding our democratic institutions but also making it easier on working families to meet their basic needs,” he said. “And Donald Trump has not shown a commitment to either of those things.”
Like Anderson and Hughes, Clare Collard, the incoming Democratic National Committeewoman for Utah, is thrilled with the choice. To her, Walz is “a vote for regular voters, a vote for families, a vote for common sense governing.” Collard formerly represented the west side of Salt Lake County in the Utah House and firmly believes Walz “could not have had a better pick to target those purple districts,” such as the west side.
“He was raised on a farm. He was a school teacher. He knows the challenges that families deal with every single day. These are kitchen table issues of paying bills, keeping your head above water and making sure your family's provided for,” Collard said. “These days a lot of people are struggling, especially out here on the west side where I live.”
Darlene McDonald, the current Democratic National Committeewoman for Utah, “didn’t know who Walz was two weeks ago,” but said once she did her research, she concluded, “he’s a guy you want to grab a beer with.”
She hopes his persona and what he’s accomplished in Minnesota is strong enough to sway people on the fence about voting for Democrats. Most importantly, she believes the ticket represents America.
As Democrats have struggled to rally support from people of color – a once secure voting bloc – McDonald, who is Black, thinks Harris and Walz have what it takes to bring those voters back. While Harris, a woman of color, “is a motivating factor” for voters of color, McDonald thinks the “ticket shows us that diversity is our strength, and that is what we are fighting for.”
She pointed to Walz’s response to the murder of Goerge Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 and his appointment of Natalie E. Hudson as Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, the first Black person to hold the title in the state.
“We can understand that the issues that impact our communities of color impact all of America. We all have the same issues in making sure that we can afford decent housing, making sure that our children are fed and we could send them off to college, that we could hopefully one day buy a home and send our kids to college and retire with dignity. That is what this ticket represents,” she said.
“And I think that message is going to resonate to communities of color, as well as to all historically marginalized communities across the country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
