Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, aiming to strengthen her historic and challenging bid for the White House. Walz, chosen from a shortlist of prominent Democrats, is expected to balance Harris’s ticket and counter Republican claims of her being too far left. His Midwestern roots and support for popular Democratic policies make him a strategic choice.

Harris, aiming to become the first woman president, has already made history as the first female, Black, and South Asian vice president. She entered the race last month after President Joe Biden withdrew due to concerns about his age and ability to serve a second term. Despite the brief campaign period, Harris has shattered fundraising records and surged in the polls, leading Trump by three points nationally, according to a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst poll.

The Harris-Walz campaign will kick off with a five-day tour through battleground states, starting in Pennsylvania. Harris secured the Democratic nomination and will head to the national convention in Chicago with her party’s full support.

Trump, who was politically strong last month, now faces a recalibrated race. At a rally in Georgia, Trump labeled Harris a “Marxist” and a “radical left freak,” claiming she would cause an economic crash. Harris’s campaign has taken a sharper, more meme-friendly approach, branding Trump and his vice-presidential pick J.D. Vance as “weird.” The Harris campaign recently stated that Trump was “scared” to debate her after he declined a scheduled debate on ABC, instead offering to debate on Fox News.