Kamala Harris is expected to announce her running mate on Monday—here is everything we know about who it might be and why.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The vice president is set to launch a tour of seven key battleground states on Tuesday, by which time she will probably have made her choice public. She will start in Philadelphia, which has done nothing to quell the rumors that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been tapped.
He was one of six who were interviewed over the weekend, according to “two people with knowledge of Harris’ selection process” who spoke to the Associated Press.
The others were reportedly Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Shapiro suddenly changed his weekend travel plans last Thursday, when he called off a fundraising trip to the wealthy Long Island, New York, community of the Hamptons.
His press secretary, Manuel Bonder, previously toldNewsweek: “The governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee. His schedule has changed and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend.”
On Wednesday, Philadelphia Magazine political writer Ernest Owens claimed that Philadelphia Democrats have already come to the conclusion that Shapiro has been selected for the role.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, he said: “I’m hearing from Philly Democratic Party members at their weekly luncheon today that Josh Shapiro is going to be Kamala Harris’s VP pick and that local unions pulled for him. Apparently, her campaign is trying to get Wall Street to pour more money before announcing him.”
Shapiro would bring obvious benefits to Harris’ ticket as the governor of a major swing state and he may appeal to some more conservative voters for things like his recent push to lower corporate taxes in his state.
Shapiro also has progressive support as he is seen as a voice for the “common man.” For example, when he was attorney general of Pennsylvania, he took on lenders at the private equity company Warburg Pincus.
He led the lawsuit, which includes multiple states, against the firm, which was accused of leading consumers into a cycle of debt by charging them for hidden add-on products.
But some Democrats may have a problem with Shapiro’s stance on Israel, as he has been vocal about his support of Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas launched its deadly attack on October 7, which saw around 1,200 people killed and about 251 taken hostage, many of whom are still in Gaza.
Some on the left are concerned about Israel’s response, which has laid waste to much of the enclaved Strip and killed about 39,000, many of them women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Nevertheless, Shapiro is certainly the favorite for bookmakers, before Walz then Kelly, Oddschecker shows.
Walz may offer more appeal to the left, as Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders have backed him. He has also reportedly caught Harris’ eye with his attacks on the Republican ticket – Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
But the state he brings with him, Minnesota, is only considered a “second tier” battleground state. While the margins of Democratic victory have often been narrow, the state has consistently voted Democrat, last voting Republican during former President Richard Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972.
Other notable contenders include Kelly, whose odds have improved to +900, and Beshear at +1400. Both have been touted for their ability to win in traditionally Republican-leaning states, a quality that could prove valuable in a national campaign...CONTINUE READING>>
