As Vice President Kamala Harris solidifies Democratic support to become the party’s nominee for president in 2024, one key question is dominating the political conversation: Who would be her running mate?
There is general consensus that Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, would choose a straight, white man — a strategic move in a nation that has never elected a woman, much less a woman of color, as its leader.
Among the elected officials reportedly in the running are Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
Some have floated the possibility that Harris might choose California Gov. Gavin Newsom as her No. 2, but the 12th Amendment prohibits running mates from residing in the same state. And the image of two leaders whose political careers were forged in San Francisco would provide endless fodder for conservatives who have long used the city as a symbol of liberal policies leading to dysfunction and disaster.
Harris doesn’t have much time to make her choice — the Democratic National Convention begins in less than four weeks in Chicago. The strategic calculus behind her choice also differs from that of traditional presidential campaigns, where candidates often choose a running mate to fill in gaps in their resume.
In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama, a relatively inexperienced senator from Illinois, chose Joe Biden because of the Delaware senator’s foreign policy experience. In the same election, Arizona Senator John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in an attempt to appeal to women and the non-establishment wing of the Republican Party and put a young female politician on the ticket.
But President Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would not seek reelection threw historic electoral norms out the window and created an unprecedented moment in American politics.
“Sometimes people think of these choices as a way to unify the party and its different wings,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. “I don’t think there are wings of the party that are different.” [Democratic] “The current party, apart from the pro-Trump wing, is different. I think the choice will be entirely a question of electability.”
Each of the men mentioned as the best potential partners has potential advantages, but also disadvantages.
Shapiro, considered a leading contender, is the governor of a state crucial to the Democrats’ bid for the White House. Although he has been Pennsylvania’s chief executive for less than two years, the 51-year-old is considered a gifted orator and a politician who seeks bipartisan consensus.
On Tuesday, Shapiro told reporters that he had not been asked to submit verification documents to the Harris campaign.
“The vice president should make that decision without any political pressure,” he said, according to the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. “That’s her decision to make. She’ll make it at her own time.”
Some political observers wonder whether the presence of Shapiro, who is Jewish, on the ticket could hurt Harris’ chances of winning in the key swing state of Michigan, which has a significant number of Muslim-American voters, as well as among progressive voters who have criticized Democrats’ approach to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Shapiro is a staunch supporter of Israel but has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership even before Hamas’ attack on the country on October 7.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, a Los Angeles-based entertainment lawyer, is also Jewish, so some argue that voters concerned about Harris’ views on the war are already unlikely to vote for her.
Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of House member Gabby Giffords, who was critically injured in a 2011 assassination attempt, is also considered a strong contender to be Harris’ running mate. Arizona, once a reliable Republican state, is now a battleground that narrowly backed Biden over Trump in 2020 but backed Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In the aftermath of Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump in June, which sparked a wave of calls for the president to end his re-election bid, Harris appeared with Kelly in Las Vegas — in the key swing state of Nevada — and praised his service to the nation.
Kelly focused on similarities between Western states, particularly their Latino populations.
Nevada and Arizona “are going to play a very important role in determining the direction of this country,” Kelly said, according to the Arizona Republic. “That’s why I’m here. Because Nevada, Arizona and our country are facing a choice, a choice between continuing the progress we’re making or going backwards.”
Kelly also faces obstacles, including concerns among Democrats about holding onto a Senate seat in a state that appears to be leaning increasingly to the right at a time when the chamber is closely divided.
Additionally, union leaders who have largely supported Harris’ candidacy are alarmed by Kelly’s lack of support for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a federal law that would expand unions’ ability to organize and bargain collectively, weaken state “right to work” laws, and give workers more power. Kelly told The Huffington Post on Wednesday that he supports the legislation.
Cooper, of North Carolina, and Beshear, of Kentucky, are not from states likely to support Harris in the November election, but they are governors who have shown an ability to win over conservative voters. If Harris were to choose either, it could be seen as an attempt to woo moderate voters who could be key in key November elections.
Harris and Cooper have been close since their days as attorneys general in their respective states. And while North Carolina is considered a Republican state, the former Sunday school teacher has repeatedly won statewide elections.
Cooper hesitated when asked if he would seek to be Harris’ running mate.
“I appreciate people talking about me,” he said Monday on MSNBC. “But I think the focus right now needs to be on [Harris] this week.”
Beshear has also proven his ability to appeal to GOP voters, and his criticism of Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who has played up his Appalachian roots and family ties to Kentucky, has been scathing.
“He’s not from here,” Beshear told The Associated Press this week.
Vance’s political career is built on his 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-seller that some say captured the struggles of rural Americans, while others counter that it relied on stereotypes that failed to highlight the historical exploitation of Appalachia.
“You can’t just come to Eastern Kentucky a couple times in the summer and then maybe for weddings and funerals and judge us,” Beshear said Monday. “It’s offensive.”
Asked whether he would be interested in becoming Harris’ running mate, the Kentucky governor did not answer directly, saying he planned to stay on for the remainder of his term.
“The only way this could have happened is if I had the opportunity to help Kentuckians in a different way that would add value,” he said.
Those names are among a dozen being considered, according to a CBS report Wednesday. Other candidates reportedly in the mix include Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Biden Cabinet members Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary.
Some liberal strategists have urged Harris to be bold and shake off the conventional wisdom that it would be politically unwise to choose a woman, a person of color or someone from the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s time for us to think differently about what constitutes a presidential candidate. The white, Christian, straight, traditional male who embodies American leadership can no longer be the norm,” LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said in a statement.
“Straight white men have never been able to save this nation single-handedly. While they have represented political leadership for decades, America has never moved forward without the drive, motivation, and creative leadership of a diverse group of Americans, particularly women and communities of color,” Brown said. “Our candidates must reflect that truth.”
