Report: NHLPA Exec Helped Choose Vice President Nominee

Marty Walsh, executive director of the NHLPA, had a big say in Kamala Harris' pick for vice president.

Nov 19, 2021; Columbus, OH, USA; U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh introduces Vice President Kamala Harris during an event at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189. Harris was in Columbus to discuss local effects of the recently-passed infrastructure bill. Mandatory Credit: Joshua A. Bickel-USA TODAY NETWORK / Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETW

Marty Walsh may be executive director of thev NHLPA today, but his political background was on full display recently.

According to CNN, Walsh, the former mayor of Boston and secretary of labor for President Joe Biden, was one of five people on a Zoom call who helped choose Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate for the upcoming election. Harris ended up choosing Tim Walz, who has been the governor of Minnesota since 2019.

Walsh was reportedly part of a "secret three-person committee" alongside White House advisor Cedric Richmond and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Matos. Lead vetting officials in former attorney general Eric Holder and former White House counsel Dana Remus were also on the call.

CNN reported that Walsh and Harris grew close while he was working in the Biden administration, and he was brought on the call for a very specific purpose.

"Richmond and Walsh, who both went from being elected officials to members of Biden’s administration, were there to help answer a question very much on Harris’s mind after her own experience as vice president: 'She wanted to make sure that we could ask questions like, "‘You’re going to go from a principal to a hybrid principal/staffer. Can you make that transition?’" according to one source familiar with the process," CNN's staff writes.

Walsh, 57, joined the NHLPA on February 16, 2023. Following the resignation of longtime executive director Donald Fehr, the union enlisted the help of an outside firm to find a new leader and ultimately landed on Walsh.

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