Vice-President Kamala Harris’s first two weeks of campaigning have been, by many metrics, quite the success. Donations have poured in and volunteers have joined up at a breakneck pace. Beyoncé soundtracked the first official Harris for President ad. The Swifties already are out in full force. The memes are plentiful. Pro-Kamala Zoom events are breaking records and the rallies have been electrifying. She officially secured enough delegate votes to become the nominee. Amid this frenzied energy, one key piece of the campaign has yet to fall into place: Who will Harris pick as her running mate?
There’s a very small window of time available for Harris to make a life-changing decision on who will make the best political partner for her. Presidential candidates typically begin this process in the spring once primaries wrap up, but Harris will make a call before taking the stage with her yet unnamed running mate during a rally in Philadelphia on August 7. Meanwhile, political observers are gleefully predicting which VP contenders are going up or down in the court of public opinion every time one of them appears on MSNBC or fires off a viral tweet. This whole blitz has been eerily similar to a season of The Bachelorette: there are high stakes, a compressed timeline, and a roster of contestants who are mostly popular, all-American, straight white men.
Some candidates, such as North Carolina governor Roy Cooper and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, have withdrawn from consideration already. Others, like Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, are getting a last-minute push from allies: On August 2, Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker released a confusing video that left social-media users wondering whether she had accidentally leaked Harris’s pick. Turns out she’s just “showing her support for a longtime friend who we know is one of the people being considered.”
So, who’s getting Harris’s final rose? Here’s a quick-and-dirty rundown of the potential vice-presidential candidates being floated. We’re also giving them roses based on their audition tapes recent cable-news appearances. Let the show begin!
Andy Beshear
Age: 46
Occupation: Governor of Kentucky
Fun fact: Beshear has a degree in anthropology and actually considered becoming an archeologist before going to law school. That’s deliciously nerdy and someone should Photoshop him as Indiana Jones immediately.
Here for the right reasons? Yes. Beshear quickly endorsed Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. When asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe whether he would consider being Harris’s VP, he said, “I think if somebody calls you on that, what you do is at least listen.”
Is Harris keeping him around? Yes. The Harris campaign reportedly asked Beshear to submit vetting materials.
Memorable moment: Beshear took aim in his Morning Joe interview at Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, and his enduring hillbilly cosplay. “I want the American people to know what a Kentuckian is and what they look like,” he said. “Let me just tell you that J.D. Vance ain’t from here. The nerve that he has to call the people of Kentucky — of Eastern Kentucky — “lazy.’” Also, his accent popped off. For that, he gets 3 out of 5 roses.
Pete Buttigieg
Age: 42
Occupation: U.S. secretary of Transportation
Fun fact: In true millennial fashion, Buttigieg has not only taken a quiz to see which Hogwarts House he belongs to, but he’s made that information public. Apparently, he is a Hufflepuff. Make of that what you will.
Here for the right reasons? Seems like it! Buttigieg said Harris is “the right person to take up the torch, defeat Donald Trump, and succeed Joe Biden as president.” He also told Rachel Maddow that he “wouldn’t say no” to being Harris’s running mate.
Is Harris keeping him around? Yes, MSNBC reported that Harris is considering him for veep.
Memorable moment: When Vance made his distasteful “childless cat ladies” comments, saying it doesn’t make sense to “to turn the country over” to people without children because they don’t have “a direct stake in it,” he name-checked Buttigieg. When asked about those remarks on CNN this week, Buttigieg said, “The really sad thing is he said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey. He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children.” His response was moving and to the point, so he gets 4 out of 5 roses.
Mark Kelly
Age: 60
Occupation: U.S. senator from Arizona
Fun fact: Kelly has an identical twin named Scott, and both of them are astronauts who’ve gone on several missions. NASA recently studied them to “observe what physiological, molecular, and cognitive changes” can happen to humans in space while Scott went on a mission for a year and Mark stayed on Earth. Pretty cool!
Here for the right reasons? Yes. Kelly endorsed Harris pretty much off the bat, saying he and his wife, former U.S. representative Gabby Giffords, “will do everything we can to elect her president of the United States.” He’s downplayed the VP conversation, too. “This is not about me,” he said when asked about it this week, adding that “when I’ve had the chance to serve, I think that’s very important to do.”
Is Harris keeping him around? Yes, the campaign has asked Kelly to submit vetting materials.
Memorable moment: Kelly has also criticized Vance for the “childless cat ladies” comment as well as his anti-abortion policies. “It’s utterly ridiculous and obnoxious and wrong,” he said. “What I really worry about is what he would do being one heartbeat away from the presidency.” For reminding us that Vance would like to take women back to the 1950s, Kelly gets 4 out of 5 roses.
J.B. Pritzker
Age: 59
Occupation: Governor of Illinois and billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir
Fun fact: Not only has Pritzker marched for LGBTQ+ rights since he was a young man, but he was caught doing a Jell-O shot during Chicago’s Pride parade last year. If you are a progressive who can do Jello-O shots in your late 50s, you have my respect.
Here for the right reasons? He seems to be. Pritzker called Harris the “party’s best chance to defeat Donald Trump” and has demurred when asked if he’d be her running mate, saying he won’t discuss “private conversations.”
Is Harris keeping him around? She is! Pritzker is one of the potential candidates whom the campaign is vetting.
Memorable moment: Pritzker went after Trump after the former president was convicted of 34 felony charges in June and did not hold back. “Donald Trump is a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, and a congenital liar,” he said. “He’s a racist, sexist, misogynistic narcissist who wants to use the levers of power to enrich himself and punish anyone who dares speak a word against him.” Because I’m stealing the phrase “congenital liar” and using it in perpetuity, he gets 3 out 5 roses.
Josh Shapiro
Age: 51
Occupation: Governor of Pennsylvania
Fun fact: Shapiro once told Penn Live that his favorite music genres are “country and rap.” I have so many questions, including: What’s his favorite country song and is it a Dolly Parton one? Biggie or Tupac? He likes rap, but can Shapiro rap? If so, please provide video evidence for our records.
Here for the right reasons? Yes. Shapiro endorsed Harris, saying, “I’ve known Kamala Harris for nearly two decades — we’ve both been prosecutors, we’ve both stood up for the rule of law, we’ve both fought for the people and delivered results.” Asked about potentially being Harris’s running mate, Shapiro demurred and said she should make her choice “free from any political pressure” and on her own timeline.
Is Harris keeping him around? Correct, the campaign is reported to be vetting him.
Memorable moment: Before Biden dropped out last month, Shapiro was out hyping up his administration’s accomplishments and implied that Trump is a little crybaby during an MSNBC interview. “I got a message to Donald Trump and all of his negativity and his whining: Stop shit-talking America!” I like an elected official who cusses in public, so Shapiro gets 4 out of 5 roses.
Tim Walz
Age: 60
Occupation: Governor of Minnesota
Fun fact: Walz was a high-school geography teacher and clearly has an educator’s sense of humor. He recently tweeted that he “supervised the lunchroom” for two decades, adding “You do not leave that job with a full head of hair. Trust me.”
Here for the right reasons? It looks like it! Walz has taken the speculation about whether he’s in contention for the VP spot in stride. He joked this week about his name being floated: “I’ve seen it out there and it’s a little weird!”
Is Harris keeping him around? Yes, Walz is reported to be one of the candidates being vetted.
Memorable moment: The governor had a notably banger-filled Morning Joe appearance this week in which he destroyed Trump’s VP pick’s claim to represent small-town America. “That angst that J.D. Vance talks about in Hillbilly Elegy — none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale, and none of them went on to be venture capitalists or whatever,” Walz said, adding “these guys are just weird. They’re running for he-man woman-haters’ club or something.” You really should watch the whole thing; Walz gets 5 out of 5 roses.
