WASHINGTON — President Biden is scheduled to meet with the sister of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Wednesday afternoon, immediately after having lunch with the vice president at the White House.
Biden, 81, is scheduled to meet with Penny Pritzker, the brother of two-term Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, ostensibly to discuss her work as U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery.
Biden told reporters on Tuesday he was “in conversation” with Harris, 59, about choosing a running mate after he decided not to run for a second term and named her the Democratic nominee.
Harris is due to travel to Houston to deliver a campaign speech during Penny Pritzker’s visit to the White House.
The vice president is expected to announce his decision within days, allowing Democratic delegates to cast their ballots virtually in time for Ohio’s August 7 deadline.
The new Democratic candidate is set to campaign in battleground states next week to capture voters’ attention, and polls show Harris is narrowing Trump’s earlier lead over Biden nationally and in battleground states ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Penny Pritzker served as secretary of commerce from 2013 to 2017, when Biden was vice president, and more recently gained attention as a leader on the Harvard University Board of Trustees, helping to select Claudine Gay as president of the university, who resigned in January amid multiple plagiarism allegations.
The Pritzker family is one of the wealthiest families in America and owns the Hyatt hotel chain.
J.B. Pritzker, 59, is not considered a front-runner for the vice presidential nomination, but was briefly seen as a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination after Biden faced pressure to withdraw after his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate and ultimately withdrew on July 21.
Other Democrats Harris may be considering include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
