Harris’ potential running mates walk the line between offering support and openly auditioning

AMBLER, Pennsylvania — Democrat Josh Shapiro had a dual message for eager voters in the Philadelphia suburbs this week. He told them: Kamala Harris belongs in the White House — and then remind them of all he has done as governor of battleground Pennsylvania. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also told Georgia voters that Harris has the makings of “a great president” — and then highlighted the elections he won as a Democrat in Republican territory.

The two governors demonstrated a centuries-old tradition in presidential campaigns: summer auditions for vice presidential candidates that walk the line between overt self-promotion and loyal support for their potential boss.

Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, appears determined to make a choice she feels comfortable with personally and who can broaden her electoral appeal. Her campaign has explored about a dozen potential running mates, according to people familiar with the search process. Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona are seen as front-runners, the people said.

Harris’ advisers, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, have been reviewing reams of paperwork submitted by potential running mates, while the candidate himself is holding personal interviews with the finalists, a source familiar with the matter said.

Harris is looking for someone with executive experience who can also serve as a board partner, according to another person familiar with the matter. The ideas of a so-called shortlist have not deterred Democrats on the broader national bank from seeking the spotlight.

“I’m not going to talk about the interactions I’ve had with the campaign,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently said on MSNBC. He added, however, “Let’s just say I’m aware that the vetting process is pretty thorough.” He went on to list his accomplishments, noting that he was the only Midwestern governor to raise his state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, once seen as an ideal candidate if Biden could save the day, has all but said she’s not a contender. But she appeared with Shapiro in Pennsylvania on Monday and mused on MSNBC last week that “two women on the ticket would be exciting.”

Harris would be the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to become president, and many Democrats have argued that she must balance her ticket demographically and politically.

Shapiro, 51, is one of the most popular U.S. governors, having won his 2022 election by defeating a Trump-backed Republican. He is an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, having won three statewide elections in Pennsylvania. His speaking style has drawn comparisons to former President Barack Obama. But he has faced criticism from the left for his support for Israel’s war on Hamas, a private school voucher program and natural gas infrastructure.

His allies argue he would help Harris win Pennsylvania, complicating or even blocking Republican Donald Trump’s path to an Electoral College majority.

Like all candidates, Shapiro dodges questions about the vetting process and insists Harris shouldn’t be pressured. But he has said more than once that he’s known her for nearly two decades.

Beshear stands out in a state with many Republicans. During his weekend stop in Georgia, he talked about winning votes in “tough districts” but stressed liberal credentials: “I am a proud pro-union governor. I am a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor.”

J.D. Vance’s contemporary among Democrats, Beshear openly mocks Trump’s understudy for presenting himself as a son of Appalachia. “I mean, there’s a county that J.D. Vance says he’s from in Kentucky — and I won it by 22 points last November,” he said.

Recently, in his hometown of Frankfort, Beshear downplayed the importance of the fact that he came from a battleground state, saying, “Almost every successful ticket since 2000 has had no one in a swing state.”

Of course, the spotlight can sometimes cause errors. Twice in Georgia, Beshear mispronounced Harris’ first name as “Kah-MAH-lah,” instead of the correct “KAH-mah-lah.”

Beshear and Shapiro were both attorneys general of states, like Harris, before becoming governor. But their tenures did not overlap much with Harris’ service in California. She worked more closely with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper during his days as attorney general, but Cooper said Monday that he had opted not to run for vice president.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 60, is a favorite of some progressives. He has an atypical national political resume: He was an Army warrant officer, a public school teacher and a state championship high school football coach before entering politics. Before he was elected governor, he was one of the last white Democrats in Congress representing a predominantly rural, small-town district — a notable contrast for Harris, a Californian from the Bay Area.

“She’s going to make the best choice she can make,” Walz said Sunday on CNN, a day after Trump held a mass rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota. “One way or another, she’s going to win in November, and that’s going to benefit everybody,” Walz said, including “a lot of those people who were in St. Cloud with the (former) president.”

Kelly, 60, is the only top candidate in Congress. He has an impressive military resume and experience as an astronaut. He has a strong Latino following on the ground and solid relationships with officials in Arizona along the U.S.-Mexico border. That balance could give him credibility on immigration policy, as Republicans view the surge in migrants crossing the border as a national crisis.

But Kelly has had to shore up his credentials with labor leaders, a key Democratic faction. Kelly reversed his position on union-backed legislation known as the PRO Act, which would make it easier to organize workers. He was one of the few Democrats not to co-sponsor the bill, saying at the time that he supported its goals but had concerns. After pushback from union leaders, Kelly said this month that he would vote for the bill if it came up for a vote.

Harris is expected to announce her choice in time for Democratic delegates to ratify her decision in a virtual nomination vote that could conclude on Aug. 7. Whatever her timetable, the media and campaign circuit are giving many Democrats extra time in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, everyone seems to have an opinion about it.

Steven Benjamin, White House director of public engagement, laughed as he told reporters on Air Force One that his office has received thousands of recommendations from across the country.

Donna Brazile, who managed Democrat Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and played a key role in pushing Biden to pick Harris in 2020, said the selection process involves “a lot of noise” that downplays the complexity of the decision.

“The most important stage is what the lawyers will do to you,” she said, laughing, emphasizing the seriousness. “It’s worse than a checkup on your teeth. … Before you get to suitability and other factors, before you get to political people like me, they’ve done a forensic examination of your life.”

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Barrow reported from Cumming, Georgia. Associated Press reporters Zeke Miller in Washington; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky; Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix; and Colleen Long aboard Air Force One contributed.