Vice President Harris and her team are interviewing running mate candidates before she announces her pick next week, and the top choices all have established relationships with Harris, which could influence her decision.
In her time as attorney general of California, U.S. senator and vice president, Harris has gotten to know those who have been identified as front-runners to join her on the Democratic ticket: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The campaign has also vetted Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Harris has worked with them all.
“She needs to find someone she vibes with. Who can help govern and make tough decisions,” one Harris ally said.
The vice president is expected to announce her running mate by Tuesday morning before embarking on a four-day, seven-state campaign swing alongside her pick.
But given the condensed timeline of the search, Harris’s ties to the candidates may play a role in whom she chooses.
“I could see a world in which she’s had a little bit of a relationship or a starting relationship with her VP candidate, but they more so balance the ticket and the relationship grows over time. I could see that happening certainly with Shapiro and with Beshear, and I could even see Buttigieg,” a former Senate adviser to Harris said.
Shapiro, 51, was attorney general of Pennsylvania from 2017-23. While that didn’t overlap with Harris’s tenure as attorney general of California, her allies say the two got to know each other because she stayed in touch with the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA).
About a week before Biden dropped out of the race — while he was fighting to prove to Democrats that he could hold onto his bid — Harris traveled to Philadelphia for an Asian voter event. She made a surprise visit after the event with Shapiro to Reading Terminal Market.
They bought food together from the Little Thai Market, during which Shapiro told reporters that Pennsylvania “was the swingiest of swing states.”
A source familiar with Harris’s relationships said she has “spent a lot of time” with Shapiro as vice president, including when she went out to campaign with him in 2022, when he was running for governor.
Harris made a surprise campaign stop for him that July at Philadelphia’s Samuel Staten Jr. Building while she was in the city for a panel on reproductive rights.
“She definitely would have kept in touch with him; she goes to the DAGA meetings and engages with them. They certainly have kept in touch,” the former Senate adviser said.
The source added that Harris also has “a pretty good relationship” with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who is close with Shapiro. She worked on bills together with him during her time in the Senate.
Kelly, 60, was sworn into the Senate in 2020; throughout most of his tenure, Harris has served as vice president. Harris has a relationship with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), through her work as a gun violence prevention advocate.
Harris and Kelly were together in June, the day after Biden’s dismal debate performance. Both participated in an event in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Harris hosted Giffords at the White House in December for a meeting on curbing gun violence.
“They do have a pretty good relationship. She’s familiar with him, she’s kept in touch with him just because of the dynamics of the Senate, just how it’s been over the last few years, and she knows his wife, Giffords,” the former Senate adviser said, adding that Kelly is “probably one of her favorites on the list” but that the dynamics of losing him in the Senate could deter her from choosing him.
Walz, 60, was a longtime congressman, from 2007-19, which overlapped with Harris’s tenure in the Senate.
In March, Walz joined Harris on a visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minn. That historic trip was the first time a sitting president or vice president visited an abortion clinic.
With Kelly and Walz, “she has a great rapport with both of them. Have seen it with Walz firsthand, and I’ve heard about it from others about Kelly,” the source familiar with Harris’s relationships said.
Beshear and Harris overlapped as attorneys general of their respective states in 2016.
Harris campaigned for Pritzker in Chicago in September 2022. Before they held a rally together, they both participated in a roundtable on reproductive rights at the University of Illinois Chicago, during which Harris called him “a national leader” on abortion rights.
Meanwhile, Harris has worked for the last three years with Buttigieg in the Biden administration. Buttigieg is among those who has been vetted to join the ticket, and he has been a near-constant presence on television since Harris became the likely Democratic nominee.
After Harris and Buttigieg ran against each other in the Democratic primary in 2020, Buttigieg played the role of former Vice President Mike Pence during Harris’s debate prep. Buttigieg’s and Harris’s husbands have become friends during their time in D.C. together.
President Biden stressed the importance of a good working relationship with a vice president when he selected Harris, after he served as President Obama’s vice president.
Biden and Harris regularly have lunch together, including on Tuesday.
The White House has stressed that the two are partners and work closely together, a relationship that Harris may be seeking to recreate with her pick.
“President Biden chose Vice President Harris because her qualifications, values, and character made her a governing partner he could trust to be ready on day one,” spokesperson Andrew Bates told The Hill.
He added, “As he has underscored, that choice was ‘the best decision I’ve made,’ and she has shown critical leadership on issues that matter deeply to American families … from defeating Big Pharma so Medicare can negotiate lower drug costs to defending fundamental freedoms to strengthening our national security and alliances.”
