Kamala Harris turns to selecting a possible vice president
After weeks of speculation, Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by President Joe Biden to succeed him as the Democratic presidential candidate this fall, will have a bench of new-generation party leaders to turn to when she moves toward the first critical decision of her candidacy: picking a running mate.
By now, the list of possibilities is fairly well known: Democrats who had already seemed like potential presidential contenders in 2028 or as potential candidates themselves this year.
It is too soon to know if Harris will go unchallenged for her party’s nomination. But either way, she needs to begin to consider who would be her running mate in a race against the Republican ticket, Donald Trump and JD Vance. In a month, Democrats will convene in Chicago for their nominating convention.
Harris, 59, could be inclined to turn to someone from a swing state that the party needs to win. She is also likely to turn to a male running mate, Democrats said, to give the ticket balance; again, though, nothing is certain since the bench includes several women.
Here’s a look at the names of Democrats on Harris’ desk now.
Josh Shapiro: Shapiro, 51, was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2022 after serving as the state’s attorney general from 2017 until he moved into the governor’s office. Pennsylvania is a must-win state for Democrats, and Shapiro’s stock among Democrats rose after he swamped his Republican opponent in 2022, Doug Mastriano, winning 56% of the vote.
As demonstrations against Israel spread across campuses this fall, Shapiro — who would be the second Jewish running mate on a major-party ticket in history if he were picked — stepped out to denounce the rise in antisemitism after the attack by Hamas in Israel on Oct 7. Shapiro was quick to endorse Harris on Sunday afternoon.
He won praise for overseeing quick repairs after a messy bridge collapse on Interstate 95 last year. In May, a New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer poll in Pennsylvania found that 57% of voters said they approved of how Shapiro was handling his job as governor.
Mark Kelly: The Arizona senator first rose to national prominence after his wife, Rep. Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Kelly, 60, a veteran of the Navy and a former astronaut, began campaigning for stricter gun control. He won his Senate seat in 2020. He has carved out an image as a moderate in Arizona, building a coalition that relied on white women in the suburbs as well as young Latino voters who were crucial in delivering the state to Biden in 2020. That kind of coalition is likely to be essential if Democrats hope to hold on to the White House this year.
Andy Beshear: At 46, Beshear is a two-term Democratic governor from Kentucky, a solidly Republican state. When he first won in 2019, his victory was regarded as a fluke; Trump won the state by about 30 percentage points three years earlier. But last year, he easily won reelection not only by capturing cities, but also small rural counties where he had previously lost. He has emphasized the “common good,” working with Republicans on legislation, including medical marijuana, and often talks about his Christian faith. It’s a message that could be particularly appealing for Democrats now, as they try to win over moderate white voters in the suburbs. But Beshear is hardly a known national figure, and may not help Democrats win what they see as their firewall of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
J.B. Pritzker: Pritzker, 59, has been the governor of Illinois since 2019. That is not a swing state, but he is a billionaire, and he could help finance the campaign. That’s no small matter as Trump has seen an avalanche of financial support since Biden’s poor debate appearance in Atlanta last month. Pritzker has caught Democratic attention over these past months with his tough attacks on Trump, including taking head-on the question of how voters will react to Trump’s conviction in his New York criminal trial. “Do they really want a president who is a felon who faces jail time?” Pritzker said in June.
Gavin Newsom: Newsom, 56, is the governor of California, and has been campaigning aggressively for Biden over the past two years. His name was frequently mentioned as a potential 2028 candidate, or as a successor to Biden, should he drop out. But reality check: It seems highly unlikely that he would be Harris’ running mate. First, he is from California, and there is a constitutional hurdle to the president and vice president being from the same state. He would provide no geographic or ideological balance to the ticket. Plus, while Newsom endorsed her Sunday night, he and Harris have never been close.
Don’t forget: Other names have been mentioned in the hours since Biden announced his plans, among them: Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland; Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce; Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation; Roy Cooper, the governor North Carolina; and Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.
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