It’s vice presidential election season for Democrats, as Vice President Kamala Harris searches for a running mate amid the chaos before Democrats officially nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Harris secured enough Democratic delegates earlier this week to become the presumptive presidential nominee, but Democrats have given themselves an Aug. 7 deadline for delegates to vote on their party’s nominees to ensure they’ll be on the ballot in every state in November.
About a dozen names of prominent Democrats, including governors, legislators and other officials, are included in the list of candidates for Harris’ number two.
But among Republicans, there are several names on the vetting list they consider particularly formidable as vice president running mates as she takes on Donald Trump this fall. And one name in particular stands out.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Houston on Thursday, July 25. The vice president has less than two weeks to choose a running mate so that delegates can meet their Aug. 7 deadline to vote on the slate.
“Honestly, my main reaction to the list that’s being checked is how wide the range of options is,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former spokesman for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
“Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, Roy Cooper, Andy Beshear all bring complementary profiles and skills to the ticket,” Madden said. He said personal relationships and trust factors should still be the primary consideration.
Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most likely candidates in the vice presidential race. However, he noted that choosing Kelly would give Democrats a Senate seat in the crucial state of Arizona if they win the election.
Democrats are unlikely to want to take that risk, given their slim majority in the Senate.
Several Republicans told DailyMail.com they see Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a strong running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris
“I think the race comes down to Michigan and Pennsylvania,” Ed Rollins, a veteran political strategist, told DailyMail.com. “If you don’t win those two races, you don’t have credibility.”
Rollins, who was behind President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign, said that’s why Shapiro and Whitmer would both be good choices for Democrats.
“Shapiro doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he knows how to win,” Rollins said.
“Since 40 years ago, when I ran Reagan, Pennsylvania was the last state to go, so it’s a tough state, and it’s going to be a tough state again. And if you don’t win Pennsylvania, it’s going to be awfully hard to get to 271.”
“If I were running this campaign, which I’m obviously not going to do, I would focus on gubernatorial elections in the three or four states that matter,” he added.
Rollins said adding a Democratic governor to the slate wouldn’t automatically make a difference, but it would likely be the best choice to help Democrats.
He pointed out that people don’t ultimately vote for the vice president, but that at this stage it does make a difference that candidates choose someone who voters believe could become president if something were to happen. That’s the ultimate threshold at this point.
GOP strategist Scott Jennings agreed.
“Shapiro,” he said when asked who would be the most formidable running mate. Why? “Talent. Pennsylvania,” he added.
But Jennings said there would be another important factor if Harris were to choose Shapiro.
“It would be a leadership moment for Harris to tell the pervasive anti-Semitic and anti-Israel elements in her coalition to stop stomping their feet,” he argued. “I would be impressed if she did that.”
Governor Shapiro meets Harris in Philadelphia on July 13. He will campaign for her in Carlisle, PA, on Saturday amid speculation about who she will choose as her running mate.
Whether or not Shapiro is the vice presidential nominee, he has already begun campaigning for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania governor travels to Carlisle, PA, near the Capitol in Harrisburg, to kick off a weekend of action for Democrats marking the 100th day until the election.
According to the campaign, more than 8,000 people in the Keystone State have registered online since Sunday to volunteer for Harris.
Shapiro won the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election in the 2022 midterm elections with more than 56 percent of the vote.
In 2020, he ran ahead of Biden for re-election as attorney general, and in 2016, he won the race for attorney general in the state, despite Trump having Pennsylvania at the top of the ticket.