We are officially off to the races, John! Vice President Kamala Harris announced last week that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will be her running mate as the vice presidential candidate for the 2024 Presidential Election.

Tim Walz was a teacher, a veteran, and a football coach before 2006 when he beat the Republican incumbent in his rural district for a seat in Congress. After serving six terms in the House, Walz ran for governor of Minnesota in 2018, defeating Republican Jeff Johnson by 11 points.

So how does Tim Walz stack up against Donald Trump's Republican running mate JD Vance?

• During his time as a social studies high school teacher, Walz advised the school’s first gay-straight alliance and continues to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. Just last year, an executive order signed by Gov. Walz made Minnesota among the first states to safeguard access to gender-affirming health care.
  → Meanwhile in Ohio, Vance introduced two anti-trans bills that would make gender-affirming care for minors a Class C Felony and prohibit the use of “X” as a gender on passports. He has also opposed federal protections for gay and interracial marriages. 


• Under Gov. Walz’s leadership, Minnesota currently has some of the most progressive reproductive health care policies in the U.S. — with abortion being legal at any point during pregnancy and even covered by the state’s Medicaid funds. After the fall of Roe, Walz was the first Governor to codify abortion as a “fundamental right” under the state’s constitution and also passed a law aimed at shielding providers and patients from abortion-related prosecution in other states.
  → On the other hand, anti-choice extremist Vance has praised the 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, has said he would support a national abortion ban without exception and has outright claimed that “abortion is not health care.”


• Gov. Walz’s staunch support of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy is not only limited to protecting abortion access. Walz has openly shared that his children were both born with the help of fertility treatments after he and his wife struggled to start a family. She underwent IVF for 7 years before they successfully gave birth to a daughter who they fittingly named Hope. In response to the recent anti-choice attacks threatening the future of IVF, Walz supported a bill that would further guarantee access to fertility treatments by requiring that health insurers cover such services under maternity care.
  →In contrast, Vance hypocritically voted against a bill that would have established a federal right to IVF (which is responsible for assisting in the births of 100,000 babies in the U.S. annually) — despite his repeated attacks and disparaging remarks against Americans who don’t have children. Vance has received backlash from members of both sides of the aisle for his offensive comments, including calling those without kids “childless cat ladies” and “childless sociopaths” who are “mentally unstable.” He even attempts to undermine their role in our democracy by claiming “they don’t have a direct stake in this country”. 


• As a champion for working families, Walz has an impressive track record. Last year, he signed a paid family and medical leave bill that provides workers 12 weeks at 90 percent of their pay to care for a newborn or sick family member and includes a “safe time” provision called for domestic violence survivors to find safe housing and court ordered protections. Walz also expanded MN’s child tax credit (the highest in the country) by making it available to the lowest-income families with no limit on the number of children who can be claimed.
  → After all of Vance's radical comments about American families and his brazen accusations of Democrats as “explicitly anti-child and anti-family,” he himself didn’t even bother to show up earlier this month for a crucial vote on bipartisan legislation that would expand the child tax credit and provide the most financial help to multi-child households.

These are just some examples of the family-friendly policies that Tim Walz has championed and signed into law as Governor of Minnesota, in comparison to JD Vance’s extremist stances on the same issues that directly impact American families the most.

With Kamala Harris and Tim Walz leading at the top of the ticket — and our pro-choice moms securing key state legislatures and competitive seats up and down the ballot — Democrats have a real shot at achieving meaningful progress and blocking the Trump-Vance far-right agenda at ALL levels of office.

Momentum and enthusiasm are on our side for right now. But we need to keep building on this energy and sustain it for the next 3 months if we’re going to remain on track for a BLUE WAVE 2024! So please, John: will you step up today and help defeat the GOP in November by pitching in $20.24 or more right now to get our moms across the finish line?

Rush a donation now to help Democrats and our pro-choice mamas demonstrate that we have the power of grassroots support behind us! >>

Thanks for taking action and doing your part in this fight. We can't do this without your grassroots support.
- Your Friends at Vote Mama

Vote Mama is the first PAC in the country dedicated to increasing the political power of Democratic moms. We believe that our country needs more moms representing our neighborhoods, our communities, and our families because we know that they are dedicated to investing in equitable solutions for future generations to come. Vote Mama helps moms break barriers to running for office by disrupting the systems that hold women back through providing direct financial support, mentorship, and endorsements.

Pitch in today to help us elect more pro-choice Democratic moms to be the voice of our communities and keep our families safe! >>