Vice President Kamala Harris could name her running mate later this week or as soon as next week.
Harris quickly rose to prominence among Democrats, two days after President Biden made the highly publicized announcement on July 21 that he was backing away from his 2024 reelection bid against former President Trump and endorsing his vice president.
Harris is currently considered the front-runner to become the party’s presidential nominee (her campaign says she has received verbal endorsements from a majority of delegates attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago), and all eyes will be on who she chooses as her running mate.
Many of the politicians high on her list have been campaigning on the vice president’s behalf in recent days.
The 2024 War: Trump, Harris and the Race for Vice President
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Several leading candidates, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, recently withdrew from the race.
But as the clock ticks down to the expected announcement, here are five top Democratic contenders who are still considered front-runners for the vice presidential running mate.
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.
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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 have repeatedly criticized Biden and Harris on the issue of border security.
Sen. Mark Kelly told reporters at the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
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.
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Senator Kelly will not only help Harris with maps and messaging, but also with money: Kelly is a proven fundraiser who raised nearly $90 million for his 2022 reelection bid during his unspent term in the Senate.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Shapiro, 51, served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general for six years before winning the 2022 gubernatorial election.
If the governor is nominated, it would give Democrats a boost in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in the Northeast.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro hold a press conference during a stop at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia on July 13, 2024. (Ryan Collard/AFP via Getty Images)
Shapiro could also make history as the first Jewish vice president of the United States.
The governor, who has been campaigning on Harris’ behalf in Pennsylvania in recent days, is helping her with map-drawing but also with funding. Shapiro is raising millions of dollars to win the 2022 gubernatorial election and continues to cultivate strong ties with big-name donors across the country.
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.
Walz will also be able to tout a number of progressive policy victories, including protecting abortion rights, legalizing recreational marijuana and restricting gun access.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a Biden-Harris campaign press conference during the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)
Minnesota is not considered a key battleground state, though the Trump campaign has signaled since the spring that it is an issue there, but the presence of the outspoken Waltz on the national list of candidates could also help Harris in the neighboring Midwestern battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
Walz, who is chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, helped lead the association to record fundraising this year.
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.
Pete Buttigieg speaks during a press conference on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Long Beach, California. (Tim Lu/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Buttigieg, a Rhodes Scholar who served in the Afghanistan war, made history as the first openly gay presidential cabinet member.
Indiana is heavily Republican, but Buttigieg, who currently calls neighboring battleground state Michigan home, is a veteran of Sunday talk shows and cable news networks who will likely help Harris spread her message, and he also has presidential-level fundraising experience from his 2020 presidential run.
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 speaks to a joint session of the Kentucky Legislature on January 3, 2024, in Frankfort, Kentucky. (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.
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Mr. Beshear’s candidacy wouldn’t help Ms. Harris’s state map (Kentucky is solid red in the presidential election), but an interview last week drew a sharp contrast with Mr. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, and that could help Ms. Harris’ message. On the financial side, Mr. Beshear has cultivated ties with national donors.
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