Harris to Meet with Final Vice Presidential Contenders in Coming Days

Friday 02 August 2024 - 15:00

Vice President Kamala Harris is nearing a final decision in choosing her running mate and plans to meet with some of the top contenders in person over the next 72 hours, a source familiar with the process said.

Harris is expected to be in Washington, D.C., on Friday and this weekend, with no public events currently scheduled.

Several candidates on the shortlist have already reshuffled or postponed plans over the next few days, suggesting they needed to clear some time for a face-to-face interview.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, for example, canceled fundraisers in the Hamptons this weekend that were originally scheduled to raise money for his PAC, his press secretary Manuel Bonder said Thursday.

“His schedule has changed, and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend,” Bonder said.

The formal vetting process by a law firm has concluded, two sources familiar with the process said, and the in-person meetings are among the last steps before Harris makes her pick. Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Barack Obama, oversaw the process for Harris as part of his role as senior counsel at Covington and Burling LLP.

NBC News reported Thursday that the six contenders who were under consideration were Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

It's unclear if all of them have advanced to the final in-person interviews with Harris herself this weekend.

Several of the candidates have already met with the vetting team.

Harris is expected to make her decision by Tuesday, when she is set to appear with her running mate for the first time during a battleground state tour that begins in Philadelphia.

A source familiar with the process strongly cautioned against reading too much into the location, saying Philadelphia was chosen in a vacuum apart from Shapiro.

The tour next week also includes visits to western Wisconsin, Detroit, Raleigh, North Carolina, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Savannah, Georgia.