Vice President Kamala Harris is gearing up to announce her running mate by Tuesday, coinciding with her first rally alongside her chosen candidate in Philadelphia. This rally will kick off a whirlwind campaign tour across seven key swing states over four days. The cities on the itinerary include Philadelphia, western Wisconsin, Detroit, Raleigh, Savannah, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
This campaign tour marks the first significant campaign event since Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, following President Joe Biden’s unexpected exit from the race. The decision to embark on this tour reflects the campaign’s belief that the electoral landscape has broadened since Biden handed over the reins to Harris.
The Harris campaign shared the details of this tour exclusively with POLITICO. The choice to start the tour in Pennsylvania’s largest city has sparked speculation about her potential vice presidential pick. One of the leading candidates under consideration is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. His inclusion would make Philadelphia an ideal location to unveil the decision, given his roots in the city’s suburbs. However, Philadelphia is also a diverse and voter-rich city crucial for any presidential candidate, due to Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes. Therefore, the choice of location might not necessarily indicate anything beyond strategic electoral considerations.
An aide from the Harris campaign advised against drawing too many conclusions from the choice of Philadelphia as the tour’s starting point. Harris herself stated that no final decision on her running mate has been made yet. When asked by reporters on Tuesday if she had selected her running mate, she responded, “not yet.”
In the coming days, Harris plans to interview several potential vice presidential candidates, according to sources familiar with the vetting process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Among the other names being considered are Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Governor Shapiro confirmed on Tuesday that he had not spoken to Harris since July 21, the day President Biden withdrew from the race. In recent days, Shapiro has been actively campaigning for Harris across Pennsylvania, a move that many Democrats interpret as an audition for the vice-presidential role. Shapiro headlined a rally with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the Philadelphia suburbs on Monday, promoted the IRS’s free tax filing program with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday, and participated in a Harris endorsement event with building trades unions on Friday.
During a visit to a youth basketball program in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Shapiro praised Harris as “a tough-as-nails prosecutor” while criticizing Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, stating he is “not exactly off to a good start.”
When asked about his interest in the vice-presidential role or whether he had submitted vetting materials to Harris’s team, Shapiro avoided a direct answer, instead emphasizing the importance of Harris’s choice. “The vice president has a very deeply personal decision to make right now: who she wants to run with, who she wants to govern with, and who can be by her side when she has to make the toughest decisions for the American people. I trust she will make that decision on her own terms when she is ready,” Shapiro stated.
Meanwhile, other vice-presidential contenders have been publicly showing their support for Harris, both in media appearances and fundraising efforts. Governor Tim Walz garnered attention for his viral remark that Trump’s GOP is made up of “weird people,” while Governor Andy Beshear took a jab at Senator Vance, stating on MSNBC that “JD Vance ain’t from here.”
Next week’s campaign tour will be Harris’s first extended tour through key battleground states, although she has already made some early campaign appearances. Last week, she held a rally in Wisconsin, and on Tuesday, she was in Georgia for another rally.
This tour is set to be a pivotal moment for the Harris campaign, as she looks to solidify her position and rally support across critical states. The outcome of her choice for a running mate and the success of this tour could have a significant impact on the overall trajectory of the campaign, as well as on the Democratic Party’s chances in the upcoming election.
