Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate, adding a Midwestern state executive to the Democratic ticket as the party gears up to hold onto key northern battleground states this fall.

“I’m pleased to share that I’ve made my decision: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will join our campaign as my running mate,” Harris said. “Tim is a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families. I know that he will bring that same principled leadership to our campaign, and to the office of the vice president.”

An ABC News/Ipsos survey conducted before Walz was selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, but after vetting began, showed that nearly nine in 10 U.S. adults did not know enough to have an opinion about Walz. Among Americans with a view, opinions were split between positive and negative: 6% had a favorable view, and 7% had an unfavorable one.

Walz’s lack of a national profile as he joins Harris on the campaign trail extends to his own party. Nearly nine in 10 Democrats also didn’t know enough to have an opinion of Walz in the poll. One in 10 had a favorable view of him, and just 4% had a negative opinion. He was an unknown figure among most Democrats across the party: those older and younger were similarly likely to not know Walz, as well as white Democrats and non-white Democrats.

Walz was re-elected Minnesota governor in 2022, he won young voters in the state. He also did well in Minnesota’s union households, winning nearly six in 10 voters in that group. About half of Minnesota voters, 52%, had a favorable view of Walz, and about four in 10 had a negative one.

And while Walz lost white voters without a college education in the state, he outperformed Democrats nationwide with this group. He also struggled among white men, a demographic Democrats have sought to win back from President Donald Trump, but did a little better among this group than Democrats nationwide.

However, Walz lost among military veteran households in Minnesota in 2022, according to VoteCast.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Walz is someone who is “just unendingly optimistic and joyous, and that is very, very important right now in our politics.”

“I always think of him in his plaid shirt because he was always making the point it’s ‘One Minnesota,’” said Klobuchar, a Democrat. “And I think that’s a point you’re going hear him talk about with our nation.”

She said his background as a hunter and someone who fishes “just brings a different perspective to the White House.”

Walz, a 60-year-old U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, said he was honored to join Harris on the ticket.

“I’m all in,” Walz said on X, formerly Twitter. “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school.”

Walz was elected to a Republican-leaning district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and served 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018.