COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vice President and Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday morning.
Ohio Democratic and Republican leaders weighed in on the decision shortly after. Democrats call Walz a successful and effective leader, a good communicator and a genuine person. Republicans call him radical, left-wing and extreme.
RELATED: Harris selects Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as running mate, aiming to add Midwest muscle to ticket
Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D- Upper Arlington) and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D - Lakewood) say they are pleased and excited about the choice because Walz has shown himself to be a successful governor who will resonate with voters across the country. They also believe he will be a good partner with Vice President Harris.
"I think that Walz has shown himself to be an effective communicator of those values around freedom, opportunity, dignity," Russo said. "He's done that very effectively."
"I think his strength, frankly, is that he's been successful in his state and can bring that to the discussion as they move across the country and talk to folks in those battleground states," Antonio said.
Dale Butland, Democratic strategist and former Ohio Chief of Staff for late Senator John Glenn, says Walz will have a lot of cachet in the battleground Midwestern states and Pennsylvania and has a background people can relate to.
"He comes from a small town, he's a teacher, a football coach with a military background with a folksy manner, and most importantly of all, he comes across as thoroughly normal and absolutely genuine, which is a marked contrast to Donald Trump's pick," Butland said referring to Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Republican Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says Harris' choice of Walz surprised him.
"I thought she would attempt to signal moderation by picking Josh Shapiro out of Pennsylvania, but instead she doubled down on picking really a radical, left-wing governor," Husted said.
"He failed to protect his citizens from the most violent and dangerous riots in recent memory," Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said about Walz, referring to the riots after George Floyd's murder.
"Just like Sherrod Brown, he has been, and will continue to be, a rubber stamp for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's radical agenda that has crushed Ohio's middle-class families," Triantafilou added.
"I don't know how one can be too progressive if progressive means feeding kids, women having the right to make their own decisions about personal, private reproductive rights and everything else," Antonio said.
Democrats believe Harris has re-invigorated the party and Walz will add to that and help bring in undecided voters.
"I think the independents, I think Democrats who maybe were thinking about maybe sitting things out are not going to be doing that," Antonio said. "I think this ticket is going to energize a whole lot of people."
"Certainly, I can confirm there is a lot of enthusiasm on the ground," Russo said. "I mean we've seen people showing up, volunteering for campaigns, getting out to knock on doors over the last two weeks."
Butland says vice presidential running mates don't move the needle very much or for very long because most people vote for the top of the ticket.
"But to the extent that you can move even small percentages of voters, that can be important because these races these days at the presidential level are very, very close," Butland said.