Vice President Kamala Harris has quickly risen as the Democratic Party’s likely presidential candidate since Joe Biden dropped out of the race Sunday and endorsed her, buoyed by support from other leading party figures as well.
However, the question remains, who will be her running mate?
Choosing one is a delicate matter, with several factors that need to be considered, whether it’s winning key states, picking up votes in rural areas, appealing to moderates or considering different demographics.
The selection process, usually conducted over the course of several months, will move at a quickened pace this time so the ticket can be finalized at the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19 in Chicago.
Josh Shapiro
One of the top potential choices is Josh Shapiro, the 51-year-old governor of Pennsylvania.
Adding him to the ticket would make a strong play for his state’s crucial electoral college votes, as Pennsylvania is one of the most important swing states this election.
Shapiro, an effective orator and assertive political centrist, was elected governor in 2022 when he faced off against a far-right candidate backed by Donald Trump.
Shapiro previously served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, a role in which he denounced sexual misconduct by Catholic priests against thousands of children and sued Purdue Laboratories, the manufacturer of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin.
Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly, a 60-year-old former astronaut and US Navy captain, has been a senator for Arizona since 2020.
He represents another swing state that Biden narrowly won over Trump in 2020; the margin between them was the slimmest anywhere in the country.
Kelly’s Senate campaign was particularly notable because of his efforts to promote gun control. His wife, former Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, almost died in 2011 when she was shot in the head at close range while meeting with constituents in Tucson.
Andy Beshear
Andy Beshear, the 46-year-old Kentucky governor, won reelection last November, campaigning on abortion rights against a candidate backed by Trump.
Beshear could bring votes from his state, located on the edge of the Rust Belt — a large part of the United States marked by decline in steel and other industries — which could form a balance with affluent California, Harris’s home state.
When asked on MSNBC on Monday morning about the possibility of being considered for vice president, Beshear simply replied: “If somebody calls you on that, what you do is at least listen.”
Beshear also took aim at Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, who was elected as senator from the neighboring state of Ohio but has grandparents from Kentucky.
Roy Cooper
Roy Cooper, the 67-year-old governor of North Carolina, is another leader from a mixed, so called purple state, this one won by Trump by just one percentage point in 2020.
Cooper was first elected in 1986 and he has never lost an election since. A moderate Democrat, picking him could convince centrist voters to lean left.
One of his key issues is the protection of abortion rights, a major issue this election taking place two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling which guaranteed federal abortion protections.
Cooper was interviewed Monday morning on MSNBC, where he declined to comment about the prospect of being Harris’s running mate, instead calling for people to focus on her, whom he strongly supports.
Other possibilities
Some other people being mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who for a time sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, is also on the list, as is Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, the state’s first Black senator.
