At POLITICO Live event, Dem and GOP House members cheer Tim Walz — albeit for divergent reasons

NEW YORK — New York Reps. Pat Ryan and Andrew Garbarino on Wednesday welcomed the news that Tim Walz is Kamala Harris’ running mate pick — though for different reasons.

Ryan, the state’s most vulnerable House Democrat, said he sees in the Minnesota governor a fellow military veteran and elected official who knows how to campaign on the nation’s stark wealth gap.

“It’s out of reach but right in front of us,” Ryan said, describing the contrast of the working class in his Hudson Valley district and the wealth of Wall Street.

Garbarino, a Long Island Republican, said he and House Speaker Mike Johnson both view Walz as a “gift to Republicans.”

Ryan and Garbarino, who represent purple parts of New York, faced questions Wednesday about the presidential election as part of a POLITICO Live event titled “ Finding the Balance: What’s Next for Social Security .” The two members of Congress attested to how the earned benefit program’s solvency is critical to their New York constituents and Americans at large. And they also acknowledged that gridlock in Congress would delay a solution.

Walz, who hails from the rural Midwest and is being targeted by Republicans for his progressive policies, knows Social Security is a life raft for the working and middle class, Ryan said.

But is Walz too liberal? Or does he at least make it too easy for the GOP to tag the Harris-Walz ticket as “far left” ?

No, said Ryan, a moderate Democrat who was among the first in his party to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw his reelection bid.

“I saw the same attack on me,” the House member said. “Google ads popped up saying the same attack that they do on every Democrat, which is just intellectually lazy and not factually correct. I think people can see through that.”

Speaking after Ryan via remote link, Garbarino said he was “thrilled” with Harris’ choice.

“I think it’s going to help Republicans win seats up and down the ballot this November,” the House member said. “Kamala Harris doubled down on going with an ultra-liberal pick.”

Garbarino is almost assured reelection, but his GOP colleagues on Long Island, Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota , hold two of the five Republican seats that the Democrats feel is ripe for flipping in New York.

Garbarino added Wednesday that he was “shocked that Governor [Josh] Shapiro was not picked,” a reference to the Jewish American governor of Pennsylvania who was on Harris’ shortlist. Republicans have sought to portray the perceived snub of Shapiro as antisemitic , but Shapiro himself was an opening speaker at Harris and Walz’s first rally together Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Ryan and Garbarino agreed on the need for bipartisanship in ensuring Social Security is accessible in the long term for those paying into it.

Jeff Coltin contributed to this report.