Twenty-four hours after President Biden’s shock announcement that he is not seeking reelection, speculation is rife over who Vice President Kamala Harris will choose as her running mate.
The president’s endorsement of Harris came shortly after he suspended his own campaign, sparking a surge in Democratic governors, senators, representatives and other party leaders endorsing Harris as a potential successor to Biden at party leadership in 2024.
As Harris moves toward the presidential nomination, the running mate race is heating up, with a list of potential candidates including many politicians thought to have national ambitions in 2028.
See the latest Fox News report about Democrats pushing to nominate Harris to replace Biden here
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on June 28, 2024. (Bizayev Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Below are the top 10 Democrats (in alphabetical order) who have been mentioned as potential running mates for Harris in the past 24 hours.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Beshear, 46, was elected attorney general in 2015 and won governor’s election in strongly Republican Kentucky four years later.
Last November, Biden was re-elected by five points in a state he lost by 26 points in 2020.
Beshear follows in his father’s footsteps, Steve Beshear, who won election and reelection as Kentucky’s governor in 2007 and 2011.
Governor Andy Beshear addresses a joint session of the Kentucky Legislature at the State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, on January 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Beshear’s son has managed to distance himself from the national party by focusing on state issues and emphasizing economic development and response to natural disasters, but he has also highlighted his support for abortion rights and advances in health care and education.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, he did not rule out serving as a vice presidential candidate, saying, “The only way I would consider a job outside of my current role is if I believed I could better help the people and the country.”
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has risen from a leading contender to the top of the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination list.
As transportation secretary, the 42-year-old Buttigieg is one of the most visible members of Biden’s Cabinet and often speaks for the administration in television interviews.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke at a press conference on June 28, 2021, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Buttigieg, a Rhodes Scholar who served in the Afghanistan war, made history as the first openly gay presidential cabinet member.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
Cooper, 67, served 16 years as North Carolina’s attorney general since 2016 before being re-elected as governor in 2020, the same period former President Donald Trump won the state as a Republican in the presidential election.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
The governor is term limited and could not run for re-election this year.
Governor Cooper has championed abortion rights in a state where the Republican legislature is controlled by the Senate, and he has also pushed for Medicaid expansion.
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly
Kelly, 60, a former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, has been elected senator from the battleground state of Arizona since 2020.
Kelly won a special election to replace the late Republican Sen. John McCain, becoming the first Democrat to hold the seat in 40 years, and easily won reelection in 2022.
Sen. Mark Kelly, March 15, 2023, at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Kelly, a border state Democrat, has emphasized his differences with the Biden-Harris administration when it comes to dealing with the influx of migrants across the southern border with Mexico, which could come in handy as the Trump campaign and Republicans repeatedly criticize Biden and Harris on the issue of border security.
Kelly is the husband of Gabby Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who was seriously injured in a 2011 shooting and has become a gun safety activist.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore
Moore, a 45-year-old Army combat veteran and Rhodes Scholar, ran for office for the first time in the 2022 election and won a landslide victory in the heavily Democratic gubernatorial race in Maryland.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore delivers his State of the State address on Feb. 7, 2024, in Annapolis, Maryland. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Moore, who made history as only the third black candidate for governor in the United States, is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Newom, 56, is one of the most high-profile Democratic governors in the nation.
The former San Francisco mayor and California lieutenant governor won election to governor in 2018, easily fended off a recall attempt in 2021 and was re-elected in a landslide victory two years ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom talks with constituents during a stop at a highway rest stop in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on July 8, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
While there is much speculation that Newsom has national ambitions in 2028, he has become a leading Biden surrogate in this election.
Newsom would face a big hurdle if he were named Harris’ running mate because both he and Harris are from California, and the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that a presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate running on the same national ticket “shall not be inhabitants of the same state as the person himself.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Pritzker, 59, serving his second term as governor of Illinois, has been a vocal Biden critic of Trump.
Pritzker is a billionaire whose family built the Hyatt hotel empire and has the ability to self-fund his campaign.
Governor JB Pritzker arrives at the State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, on February 21, 2024, to deliver his State of the State and Budget address. (Brian Casella/Chicago Tribune via The Associated Press)
The Governor has actively fought for women’s reproductive rights and has signed a string of progressive measures into law, including banning assault weapons and raising the minimum wage.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Shapiro, 51, served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general for six years before winning the 2022 gubernatorial election.
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If the governor is nominated, it would give Democrats a boost in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in the Northeast.
Governor Josh Shapiro speaks at a campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Shapiro could also make history as the first Jewish vice president of the United States.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
Walz, 60, is serving his second term as governor of Minnesota, a state that has consistently gone to Democrats in presidential elections but is now considered a battleground state.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a news conference in Burnsville, Minnesota, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Abby Parr, File)
Walz will also be able to tout a number of progressive policy victories, including protecting abortion rights, legalizing recreational marijuana and restricting gun access.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer is another prominent battleground state governor and a key Biden surrogate who has been battling Trump.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers her State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on January 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)
Whitmer, 52, was thought to be on the shortlist to be Biden’s running mate in 2020.
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