Quote:A new report from Politico has suggested that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a major part in Vice President Kamala Harris’s selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate, due to his strong ties to the lower chamber.

Pelosi and other House legislators pushed Harris to select Walz, who served in the House for 12 years, over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) and Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), neither of whom have ever served in the House.

Additionally, Walz’s strong support among centrists and progressives, Representatives Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), the head of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, and Progressive Caucus leader Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) pushed for Harris to select Walz.

“The point is that Vice President Harris, by selecting Tim Walz, doesn’t have to have a lot of these relationships in the House created because he already has them,” said Representative Rick Larsen, (D-Wash.), who served with Walz in the House.

“I always found Tim to be very independent,” said Rep. Filemón Vela, (D-Texas.). “The reason that Nancy [Pelosi] has such a great deal of respect for him is because she knows that whenever there were situations that he did disagree with her, that he was also respectful about it.”

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, Pelosi said that Walz is “wonderful,” and rejected claims that he is a leftist, saying Walz is “right down the middle.”

Pelosi also added that Walz “is a heartland of America Democrat. He was the chair of our Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and I don’t want anybody to forget that — he made tremendous, tremendous gains for our veterans.”