Harris Running Mate Walz Draws Praise for Rural Broadband Bona Fides

Walz has been among the public faces of Minnesota’s rollout of broadband funding since he became governor in 2019, including $53 million in connectivity money the state’s Office of Broadband Development (OBD) announced in March (see 2403050072). He signed off in May on the legislature’s removal of municipal broadband restrictions (see 2405240011), along with a comprehensive data privacy law and a prohibition on junk fees. Walz, who previously represented parts of southern Minnesota in the U.S. House, was a member of the Agriculture Committee and a co-sponsor of several rural broadband bills.

There are no apparent policy tensions between Walz and Harris, unlike the disagreements Vance has with GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump, New Street’s Blair Levin said. Trump hasn’t supported an ACP extension and his views on antitrust, “to the extent one can understand them, seem in tension with Vance,” Levin said. He noted Walz as a state governor is familiar with NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment program and in November signed a letter a group of bipartisan governors crafted urging stopgap funding for ACP (see 231114006). Harris and Walz agree “on the fundamental goals of getting broadband networks everywhere and making it affordable to all,” Levin said.

Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld praised Walz for supporting “significant investment in rural broadband” and backing Minnesota’s removal of municipal broadband roadblocks. “While it is difficult to say how much of a priority Walz makes broadband over other issues, he certainly seems in step with” the Biden administration “in ... funding broadband and supporting muni broadband,” Feld told us. He expects Walz will “continue to champion closing the digital divide” if elected vice president in November.

Minnesota “is a rare state where we still have some Democrats from rural areas in power, and Walz is one of them,” said Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance director-community broadband networks. “He really understands more about growing up in rural areas and is more in contact with normal people than a lot of national officials.” Mitchell cited a meeting in the state’s Le Sueur County when Walz “talked about his frustration with the poor service from some of the wireless companies” in that area and how it hurt military veterans.

Underserved Communities' Champion

Mitchell lauded Walz for championing broadband service improvements in underserved communities amid the greater national emphasis on targeting federal funding to unserved areas. Walz “knows what it's like living in a small town or a medium-sized city where you have mediocre access,” Mitchell said: “So much of broadband policy is focused on this idea that we have to solve it for people that don't have anything. But he understands what it's like when you have something that's not good enough, and you need something better.”

Walz has been “good on broadband” issues as Minnesota governor but not a standout over previous administrations given the state is routinely “really good” on connectivity policymaking, Mitchell told us. “I wouldn’t say we’ve seen a governor [in Minnesota] really lead on broadband in a strong way, so it’s not really just” about Walz’s tenure, Mitchell said. “I think he’s done good things, but I could name governors” in other states who “have made it a higher priority.” Mitchell cited Walz’s support for removing the state’s municipal broadband restrictions as a recent highlight.

Minnesota Telecom Alliance CEO Brent Christensen praised OBD, part of the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, but said it’s not clear Walz was directly involved with it on policy. Christensen criticized Minnesota’s Commerce Department as heavily regulatory, while EED has “done an amazing job” in administering state grants and working with other state agencies to ease permitting issues.

Cooley’s Robert McDowell believes Walz’s joining as the Democratic ticket's running mate is unlikely to significantly alter a future Harris administration’s telecom and tech policymaking. “Overall, VP picks are much less relevant than they were in the 20th century.” Neither Walz nor Harris has a major “footprint” in national telecom public policy, said McDowell, a former FCC commissioner. “Their election may mean that the White House policy vacuum in that regard would be filled by whomever chairs the FCC, leads NTIA” and leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees, McDowell said.