Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to meet with six potential running mates before making an official announcement next week. She will then embark on fundraising and campaigning activities across various locations with her new running mate.
With only about three months left until the election day and just two weeks until the Democratic National Convention officially confirms the candidate, the Democratic presidential campaign team is speeding up its process. On Friday, the Democratic National Committee announced that Kamala Harris won the majority of delegate votes at the virtual roll call and will become the party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 election.
The selection of the Democratic vice-presidential candidate is also underway.
President Biden said on Friday that he had discussed with Kamala Harris the search for a vice-presidential candidate, but when asked if he had any suggestions on the qualities Harris’s running mate should possess, President Biden publicly stated that he did not. “I will let her figure it out on her own,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House before heading to Wilmington, Delaware for the weekend.
It is rumored that most of the potential running mates for Kamala Harris are governors from swing states that could decide the outcome of the 2024 election. Some of the top contenders include Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.
When asked if they would be willing to be appointed as Harris’s running mate, all four individuals stated that they would step up if chosen, but none hinted at any contact with Harris’s campaign team.
Last Tuesday, Shapiro stated, “The vice president is now making a very profound personal decision: who she wants to run with, who she wants to govern with, who will be by her side when she has to make the hardest decisions for the American people. I believe that she will make a decision based on her own conditions when she is ready.”
Kelly mentioned to the media on July 25, “This is not about me. But I always, always say that when I have the opportunity to serve, I think that’s very important.”
Beshear has been actively campaigning for Harris, telling Des Moines Register, “I am honored to be considered, and whatever happens, from now until Election Day, I will work every day to ensure Kamala Harris becomes the next President of the United States.”
Walz told CNN last Sunday, “Being mentioned is certainly an honor… I trust Vice President Kamala Harris’s judgment. She will make the best choice.” “But regardless, she will win in November, and that will benefit everyone… It will be a victory in any way.”
Shapiro and Kelly have been seen as frontrunners on Harris’s list of potential running mates. The deadline for the selection of her running mate is next Tuesday, by which time Harris will start campaigning in seven key battleground states, including Wisconsin and Michigan, starting from Philadelphia.
Shapiro recently canceled three weekend fundraising events in seaside communities on Long Island, New York, with his press secretary Manuel Bonder offering little explanation. “The governor’s schedule was planned several weeks ago, including several fundraising events for his own campaign committee,” Bonder said in a statement. “His schedule changed, and he will not be going to the Hamptons this weekend.”
One fundraising event for Shapiro was set to be hosted by Michael Kempner, a member of President Biden’s National Finance Committee. Kempner indicated in a note to invitees that the gathering had been postponed and claimed Shapiro would be Harris’s number two, writing, “Many are speculating that this is a sign he will become the vice president.”
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker publicly endorsed Shapiro as a vice-presidential candidate in a video posted on social media.
A recent poll found that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Senator Mark Kelly rank highest among Democratic voters as potential vice-presidential candidates for Vice President Harris.
A survey conducted by American market research company YouGov on Friday revealed that Buttigieg and Kelly are the most popular choices to join Harris in her bid for the White House.
58% of Democratic voters or leaning-party independents expressed support for Buttigieg to serve as vice president. Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona, a former astronaut, closely followed with a 57% approval rating.
Kelly, as a senator from a swing state, is seen as a coveted asset for the Democratic Party in the election. However, according to Bloomberg News, labor unions are not fond of him becoming the second-in-command, complaining about his lack of support for the labor movement. As Harris seeks union support, this could be a potential issue.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker could emerge as a dark horse. Sources revealed that Pritzker underwent two interviews with Harris’s vetting team this week.
According to sources requesting anonymity, the most recent interview took place on Wednesday, July 31.
As one of the candidates for the second spot, Pritzker is not often mentioned in the media. Yet, he has been a loyal surrogate for Harris and was also a loyal surrogate for Biden before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race. The heir to the Hyatt Hotels group will serve as the de facto host of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and is a potential big donor for Democratic campaign activities, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $3.5 billion.
At age 46, Beshear was elected as the Governor of Kentucky in 2019, winning re-election in November 2023 with a 5-point margin, a significant victory for the Democratic Party in the deeply red state. Beshear previously served as the state’s Attorney General and comes from a political family in Kentucky, where his father, Steve Beshear, won consecutive gubernatorial terms in 2007 and 2011 as a Democrat.
Walz is an experienced politician hailing from Minnesota, a state with conservative elements. He flipped a deep-red district in Minnesota’s House of Representatives in the 2006 election and served as a congressman until 2019, one of the few military veterans recruited by the Democratic Party that year. Walz, who served in the military for 24 years, often describes himself as a pragmatic moderate.
It is reported that House Democrats are pushing for Walz to become Vice President Harris’s running mate, and even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is said to lean towards her former House colleague.