Rural Democrats explain how Tim Walz’s candidacy makes winning swing states 'a lot easier'

24 August 2024

Tim Walz – the Democratic vice presidential nominee who is currently in the middle of his second term as Minnesota's governor — could be key to Democrats winning over rural voters in Republican territory.

According to several rural Democrats who recently spoke to ABC News about Walz's candidacy, the Midwestern former high school football coach and longtime gun owner may be the party's best chance of courting a traditionally conservative bloc of voters in the 2024 election. Aliya Johnson, who is described by ABC News as a "lifelong Democrat" who lives in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Georgia) congressional district, said Walz gives her a renewed sense of hope about her party's chances in communities like hers.

"I feel like Tim is genuinely a person who has high morals, who is a good, upstanding person," Johnson said. "That kind of represents the older style of respectability that I think older voters got used to and that newer voters still want to lean on and believe is the right thing, and a good thing.

"This is the first time that we really feel like change is possible," she added.

Walz's rural credentials are well-documented: As he mentioned during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, he grew up in a town of roughly 400 people in the Nebraska plains and was in a high school graduating class of just 24 students. And despite his record of passing gun violence prevention measures as Minnesota's governor (typically a third-rail issue for Republicans), Walz has framed it around his expertise of and experience with handling firearms throughout his life.

"Look, I know guns. I'm a veteran. I'm a hunter. I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it," Walz said, referencing a 2015 shooting competition. "But I'm also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment. But I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe."

Jackson County, Georgia Democratic Party chairman Peter Fuller said voter engagement in his heavily Republican county is "a lot easier to do" with a relatable candidate like Walz on the ticket. He added that the more Democrats can tout their record on the economy, the better they'll do among rural voters like those in his community.

""These are counties that have been like this for a while. They are long-term projects," he said. "Most of these communities are agriculture based. We have issues of either not having population growth, or loss in some cases. Health care is a big one."

Should Democrats be able to effectively make a compelling case to rural voters, it may give them a crucial edge in hard-fought battleground states like Georgia and Wisconsin. President Joe Biden narrowly won those two states in 2020 by fewer than 35,000 combined votes. North Carolina — which also has a significant chunk of rural residents — is also now in play in 2024, with Vice President Kamala Harris in a dead heat with former President Donald Trump despite the Tar Heel state voting Republican in the last three elections.

Click here to read ABC's report in its entirety.

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