Kamala Harris picking Tim Walz could pave way for first Native American female governor

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate on Tuesday -- a choice that could potentially usher in a historic first.

If Harris and Walz win, prompting Walz to resign as governor, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would take over the position, according to Minnesota's constitution -- and would become the first Native American woman to ever serve as a state governor.

She would also be the first woman to serve as governor of Minnesota in the state's history.

Flanagan, 44, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is "currently the country's highest ranking Native woman elected to executive office," according to a biography on her office's website. She was first elected to the lieutenant governorship in 2018.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Flanagan celebrated the news Walz had been selected as the vice presidential nominee.

"I've been friends with Tim Walz for almost 20 years. And for more than five years, he's been my partner in justice at the Minnesota Capitol," she wrote. "He has the grit and the grace to keep our country moving forward alongside Kamala Harris."

As lieutenant governor, Flanagan worked with Walz and other members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party to pass a laundry list of progressive legislation -- including free school breakfasts and lunches, paid family and medical leave, legalizing marijuana, codifying abortion access and enacting stricter firearms laws -- in what Walz called "the most productive session in Minnesota history," according to the Star Tribune.