Kamala Harris has the nomination. Deputy candidate Minnesota Governor Walz

Kamala Harris has formally secured the democratic nomination for the presidency, becoming the first black woman to win the nomination from a major party. The vice-president won the support of 99 per cent of the 4,567 delegates, the Democratic National Committee reported. Voting was held virtually five days in advance of the Chicago convention to avoid legal headaches on the ballot in Ohio.

The choice of the vice presidential candidate who will accompany her on the campaign trail has also been made: he is Tim Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, a state in the crucial Midwest. "I am pleased to share my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate. Tim is a proven leader who has an incredible track record of delivering results for Minnesota families. I know he will bring the same principled leadership to our campaign and to the vice president's office,' Harris explained in the email sent to supporters. She herself communicated in a video call to Walz that she had chosen him as her 'running mate'. Married with two children, a former history teacher and former member of the National Guard, he is a veteran of politics having served in Congress for 12 years before being elected to lead his state twice. In recent times he has coined a successful term to describe the Trump-Vance couple: 'plain weird'.

"The first important decision a presidential candidate has to make is that of the vice-president. And Kamala Harris has made an excellent decision by choosing Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the race for the White House." This is the 'blessing' that Joe Biden addresses to the ticket on X. "I have known Tim Walz for nearly two decades, first in Congress and then as governor, a role in which he has been strong and effective. The Harris-Walz ticket will be a powerful voice for working and middle class Americans. They will be the strongest defenders of our freedoms and democracy. And they will ensure that America continues to lead the world,' he stressed.

Walz does not come from a traditionally swing state: Minnesota has supported a Republican presidential candidate only once since 1960. But his credentials, those of a veteran who previously represented a rural area of Republican-leaning Minnesota in Congress, could help Harris attract white working-class voters who have turned away from the Democrats and helped fuel Trump's political rise.

"It's great to join Kamala Harris in this campaign," Walz commented on the nomination on X. "Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what is possible- It reminds me a little bit of the first day of school. Let's get on with it. Join us."