July 23, 2024
GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK
Gov. Josh Shapiro is reportedly one of the top candidates to be Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Other governors in swing states and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona have also been reported as potential picks to be Harris's vice president.
Josh Shapiro could be the second name on the Democratic presidential ticket this fall.
Speculation has swirled that the Pennsylvania governor could be Kamala Harris's running mate after President Joe Biden bowed out of the 2024 race on Sunday and endorsed Harris, making the vice president the presumptive Democratic nominee. The conversation over her replacement has largely focused on governors in swing states, including Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Roy Cooper (North Carolina), Andy Beshear (Kentucky) and Tim Walz (Minnesota). And according to a new ABC News report, Shapiro has emerged as one of two leading contenders.
A senior administration official told ABC News on Tuesday that Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona are the top candidates to be Harris's pick for vice president. This news follows previous reports from NBC News that Harris had requested vetting materials on Shapiro, Kelly, Whitmer, Cooper and Walz for background checks.
Pennsylvania and Arizona are considered key battleground states in the presidential election, and Biden carried both by narrow margins in the 2020 presidential election to help him edge Donald Trump. Shapiro and Kelly have defeated Trump-endorsed candidates in previous elections: Shapiro beat Doug Mastriano in his 2022 gubernatorial campaign, and Kelly defeated Republican candidate Blake Masters for his Senate seat.
Though Shapiro has endorsed Harris for president, he has been coy about his potential vice presidential nomination. At a Monday news conference for Environmental Protection Agency grants, he was immediately flooded with questions about the ticket.
"Are we not talking about concrete anymore?" Shapiro joked, before offering a measured response.
"(Harris) will now have to make an important decision as then-candidate Biden had to make," he said. "And that is who to run with, who should be her running mate? That's a deeply personal decision and a decision which should be made really free from any political pressure. ... She will make that decision when she is ready."
The contrast in this race could not be clearer and the road to victory in November runs right through Pennsylvania – where this collective work began.
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) July 21, 2024
I will do everything I can to help elect @KamalaHarris as the 47th President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/sqCkiAmCV7
Shapiro acknowledged that he had spoken to Harris after Biden announced his decision, but he claimed the conversation was about "defeating Donald Trump." He dodged subsequent questions about his interest in the position.
"I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals," he said. "... I'm focused on doing my job here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
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