As Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' running mate, a handful of Democrats who had previously sought a ticket to the presidential race avoided a crushing defeat in the race to President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump received the 270 electoral votes needed to secure victory, and Ms. Harris conceded her candidacy in a phone call to Mr. Trump on Wednesday afternoon. She also plans to address the nation about her defeat later Wednesday.
In addition to Mr. Trump and dozens of victorious Congressional and gubernatorial incumbents and candidates from both parties, Democrats in the orbit of Ms. Harris, who had been floated as a running mate, also appeared on the Democratic ticket. I won because I didn't participate.
Harris courted a number of running mate candidates during the shortened campaign period after President Biden withdrew from the race in the summer, but ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as a candidate to join the race. selected by the person. The elected officials that Harris handed over to her running mate emerged as the winners this cycle. Their political star status rose during Harris' vetting process, but they avoided direct involvement in the debacle of the Democratic Party, which Harris denounced as “Nazis” and “fascists.”
All of Harris' options for top vice president have drawbacks that could put them out of contention.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speak to reporters at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia on July 13, 2024. (Ryan Corrado/AFP)
After Harris loses big time to Trump, global blame game begins
Democratic Keystone State Governor Josh Shapiro was touted as a very likely choice for vice president over the summer until Democrats converged on Chicago for the Democratic National Committee in August. Pennsylvania has once again become a key battleground state this election cycle, and experts say it will likely determine the overall outcome of the election.
Pennsylvania ultimately voted for Trump and carried him across the finish line.
The popular first-term governor was seen as a potential key to Harris' campaign gaining the coveted 270 electoral votes to secure the election. Shapiro, who is Jewish, also served as a bridge for the Harris campaign to court Jewish voters amid backlash over her previous comments defending anti-Israel demonstrators who rocked college campuses last year during Israel's war. He was hailed as a person who can get things done.
Harris despised Shapiro and supported Walz. Before becoming Harris' running mate, Walz was largely unknown outside of Minnesota and Washington, D.C.
This is where the vice presidential candidate can tackle the most important issues.
“You have to ask yourself why didn't she choose Josh Shapiro as her vice president?” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News' “Sunday” with Maria Bartiromo just before Election Day.・He appeared on “Morning Futures'' and said the following. “The answer is that today's Democratic Party could not accept a Jewish candidate.”
Now that the presidential election is over, Mr. Shapiro has increased his profile on a national level this year, and because he hails from one of this cycle's most swing states, he could potentially run for the White House on his own in the future.
senator mark kelly
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) speaks with reporters as he waits to board the Senate subway from the U.S. Capitol to the Hart Senate Building on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. July 25, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly has also been floated as a running mate, with pundits and political insiders touting him as a high-profile candidate with national star status as a former NASA astronaut. Kelly is also married to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt and went on to become a well-known gun control activist.
Liberal tears after Harris' defeat bring back memories of Clinton's 2016 defeat
Kelly also avoided directly attaching his name to the failed 2024 Democratic nomination, instead focusing on his tenure in the Senate.
Mr. Kelly was notable for flipping late Republican Sen. John McCain's seat in 2020, scoring a historic victory for Democrats in the state and giving the party control of both Senate seats for the first time since the 1950s. obtained.
He is now in a position to potentially run for president in the future.
Political consultant Andy Barr told Axios earlier this year, “If Mark Kelly wants to run for president in the future, he will quickly join the small group of people who have that opportunity.” .
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshearhas been the leader of the Bluegrass state since 2019 and was seen as a centrist Democrat who could have appealed to moderate voters at the federal level had he joined the Harris ticket.
The 46-year-old could have appealed to younger voters, but was sidelined in favor of Walz.
Montage: Liberal media pundits predict Kamala Harris victory
Beshear won a second term as governor in the deep red state last year amid mounting speculation that he might launch a presidential campaign in the future.
Dewey Clayton, a political scientist at the University of Louisville, told the Courier-Journal over the summer that “I think a lot of people around him are saying, 'Maybe we have the perfect formula for the Democratic Party moving forward.' ” he said.
Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a campaign event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 28, 2024. (AP/Paul Sancia)
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has come under fire from political insiders who say Walz is unlikely to be her running mate, with many arguing that Shapiro would have been the best candidate.
“As a founding member of the group that should have chosen Shapiro, I think it's relatively clear now that she made a mistake,” statistician Nate Silver told The New York Times ahead of Election Day.
Harris will not speak from Howard University on election night as planned.
“Pennsylvania seems to be a little behind the other blue-walled states. Walz, on the other hand, was unremarkable in debates and unremarkable and nervous in public appearances.”
Harris Walz's agent, Lindy Lee, told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jackie Heinrich, who graduated from Howard University, that Shapiro may have helped the Harris campaign in its efforts to secure a landslide victory. said that it was high.
Supporters react to early election results during Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' election night rally during the 2024 U.S. presidential election at Howard University on November 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
“One of my top priorities is to select Tim Walz as my running mate,” Lee said. “There are a lot of people saying it should have been Josh Shapiro tonight, and frankly people have been saying that for months.
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“I know a lot of you are probably wondering what would have happened tonight if Shapiro had been on the ticket,” Lee continued. “It's not just about Pennsylvania. He's known for being a moderate. So it would have shown the American people that she's not the San Francisco liberal that President Trump said he was.”
Walz will complete his second term as governor in 2027.
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