As TPM has previously reported, Vice President Kamala Harris’ team began vetting potential running mates almost immediately after President Joe Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the Democratic ticket. Now that Harris is officially the party’s presumptive nominee, that process is gaining steam — including apparent jockeying for the role from the candidates on the shortlist.
On Wednesday morning, MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin reported Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had joined the list of potential running mates being vetted by Harris’ team. Since then, multiple sources have confirmed to TPM that people have gotten to work trying to promote Buttigieg to Harris’ inner circle.
“Pete’s people are working and calling up Kamala allies,” one longtime Harris backer told TPM on Wednesday afternoon, adding of Buttigieg, “He wants it bad.”
The veepstakes are a quadrennial ritual that is something between a reality show and serious political process. They typically involve a blend of media appearances that serve as test runs, polling, and opposition-style research to identify any potential liabilities. Normally, only one major party ticket needs a running mate, but in this year’s extraordinary race, we have seen a virtually unprecedented double veeping. Former President Donald Trump, after, well, the whole “hang Mike Pence” thing helped sour relations with his erstwhile vice president, opted for a new right hand man and chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) earlier this month. And, of course, Harris saw herself move from running mate to main event after Biden’s debate implosion and subsequent exit.
Harris’ rapid fire rise to the top of the ticket has truncated the normal veepstakes process. She will need to choose a running mate before the virtual roll call vote where Democratic National Convention delegates will officially nominate the ticket. That vote is set to be scheduled between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7, which leaves Harris’ team a matter of days to make the pick.
The Harris backer, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations, described Buttigieg’s people as “working it” and said they were trying to “galvanize people in Kamalaworld” by making “the case why he makes the best VP” to people who might have the vice president’s ear. According to the Harris backer, that pro-Buttigieg argument includes his “name ID, polling numbers that show how he does with rural voters, and the point that, with little time left, he’s already been pretty well vetted.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Buttigieg has a robust political network and high profile due to his campaign in the 2020 presidential election, where he was one of the top performers in the Democratic primary, plus his role in the Biden administration. A source familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations, characterized anyone advocating for Buttigieg as an outgrowth of his strong support.
“There’s a lot of organic stuff,” the source said. “Pete has a really loyal base of backers and supporters from when he ran and I think they’re very excited about him being in the conversation.”
The Harris backer who received the outreach from Buttigieg’s advocates said they also heard from people making a veepstakes case for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Spokespeople for Pritzker did not respond to a request for comment.
Both Buttigieg and Pritzker were not on the list of potential running mates being vetted that a well-placed Democratic source provided to TPM earlier this week. That initial shortlist included North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
A source close to Harris who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing deliberations confirmed that both Buttigieg and Pritzker were being vetted along with the elected officials on that initial shortlist. However, despite the ardent efforts of Buttigieg and Pritzker’s supporters, the source said that, as of now, they did not appear to be among the leading candidates.
“The top three choices are probably Kelly, Shapiro, and Cooper,” the Harris source said.
Of course, all of the elbowing angling and hand wringing is set to continue for at least a few more days.
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BONUS: As we prepare for the DNC delegates to nominate Harris (and whoever her running mate is) next month, please enjoy this video of participants at the 1996 convention doing “The Macarena.”
Sorry, but her veep should be a white straight guy.
There have been no women presidents and only one non-white.
We are still a nation that has deep bigotry.
One step at a time.
My two cats agree.
I’m on team Pete! He’s brilliant with the press, he’s not a current Senator, and he is fucking awesome.
I think Pete is probably the smartest person in politics and would make a great VP and I’d vote for him for any office he ran for. I also think our country is full of bigots who would have a hard time voting for Harris and an even harder time if you put a gay man on the ticket. Which sucks. I think Mark Kelly will be her choice and that’s a smart idea for a lot of reasons.
Pete has a lot of support here in Michiana. I would think that his sexuality would be no issue with the vast majority of Democrats, esp. Kamala_supporting Dems.