It’s presidential election season for Democrats as Vice President Kamala Harris looks to find a running mate in the frenetic race before Democrats need to officially nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Harris secured enough Democratic delegates to become the presumptive presidential nominee earlier this week, but Democrats have given themselves an Aug. 7 deadline for delegates to vote on the party’s nominees to ensure they appear on the ballot in every state in November.
Those being considered to be Harris’ No. 2 include about a dozen names of prominent Democrats, including governors, lawmakers and other officials.
But among Republicans, there are several names on the shortlist that strike them as particularly formidable as running mates for the vice president, who will seek to take on Donald Trump this fall. And there is one name in particular that 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 delegates can meet the Aug. 7 deadline to vote on the nomination.
“To be honest, my main reaction to the list that’s being looked at 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 and Andy Beshear bring complementary profiles and skills to the ticket,” Madden said, adding that personal relationships and trust factors should remain the primary consideration.
Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most formidable candidates in the vice presidential race, but noted that choosing Kelly would open up a Senate seat in the swing state of Arizona if Democrats win the election.
Democrats may not want to take that risk with such a narrow majority in the Senate.
Several Republicans told DailyMail.com that they see Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as a formidable running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I think the game will come down to Michigan and Pennsylvania,” veteran political strategist Ed Rollins told DailyMail.com. “If you don’t win those two games, you don’t become credible.”
Rollins, who was behind President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign, said that because of that, Shapiro or Whitmer would be excellent choices for Democrats.
“Shapiro doesn’t have that much experience, but he knows how to win,” Rollins said.
“Forty years ago, when I ran the Reagan campaign, Pennsylvania was the last state to turn out, so it’s a tough state and it’s going to be tough again. And if you don’t win Pennsylvania, it’s going to be very difficult to get to 271.”
“If I were running this campaign, which I obviously am not, I would focus on running it like the gubernatorial election in those three or four states that matter,” he added.
Rollins said putting a Democratic governor from a battleground state on the ballot wouldn’t automatically make a difference, but it would likely be the best option to help Democrats.
He noted that people don’t end up voting for the vice president, but at this stage it makes a difference if candidates choose someone who voters believe could be president if something were to happen and that’s the ultimate threshold at this point.
Republican strategist Scott Jennings agreed.
“Shapiro,” he replied 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 chooses Shapiro.
“It would be a leadership moment for Harris to tell the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel elements in her coalition to shut up,” he argued. “I would be impressed if she did that.”
Gov. Shapiro with Harris in Philadelphia on July 13. He will campaign for her in Carlisle, Pa., on Saturday amid speculation about who he will choose as his running mate.
Regardless of whether Shapiro is the vice presidential pick or not, he is already campaigning to be the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
On Saturday, Pennsylvania’s governor heads to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, near the state Capitol in Harrisburg, to kick off a weekend of action for Democrats to mark 100 days until the election.
More than 8,000 people in the Keystone State have signed up online to volunteer in the state for Harris since Sunday, according to the campaign.
Shapiro won Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race in the 2022 midterm elections with more than 56 percent of the vote.
In 2020, she defeated Biden in his bid for re-election as attorney general, and in 2016, she won the state’s attorney general race despite Trump winning Pennsylvania as the front-runner.
