Kamala Harris Is Conducting Live “Chemistry” Tests With Her Top Vice Presidential Candidates
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is said to be meeting with her top vice presidential candidates on Sunday to check how they get along. At least three of the finalists—Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona—is scheduled to meet with Vice President Harris in a meeting described as a “chemical test,” according to New York Times.
The in-person conversations are the apparent final step in a weeks-long search to choose who will join Harris on her historic 2024 ticket. The campaign has said it will announce the pick ahead of Harris’ scheduled rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The event will mark the duo’s first joint stop before touring seven swing states in just four days, Politico reports.
It’s unclear whether others on the vice presidential team will be included—like the Transportation Secretary. Pete Buttigieg and Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky—have met Harris or are also on the list.
This final test is “the one that Ms. Harris is expected to place the most faith in,” time wrote. “Aides and associates say she often prioritizes personal relationships with her staff and advisers.”
These more intimate meetings followed a rapid vetting process by the Harris campaign, and information found during that process, according to one of the finalists, was shared with potential vice presidents. A sort of public vetting process played out in media interviews, on social media and in the halls of Congress.
On Friday, the mayor of Philadelphia Cherelle Parker‘ group posted a tweet and video that appeared to show Pennsylvania governor Shapiro as the vice presidential candidate. At first, the video appeared to be an accidental leak of internal information before Harris’s pick was made public. A source close to Parker quickly told Philadelphia Inquirer that the mayor has expressed his support for Shapiro, but has not announced anything definitive.
While the decision to hold the first full-campaign event in Philadelphia could be seen as a mystery, a Harris aide “cautioned against reading too much into the first city chosen for the tour,” Politico reported.
Shapiro’s position at the helm of a key 2024 battleground state has put him in the lead in the race for control. The governor, 51, drew national attention in 2020 when, as attorney general, he took on then-President Donald Trump‘s numerous election fraud lawsuits against the state. Plus, he has plenty of experience winning tough elections—when he took office as governor, Shapiro made history by winning more votes than any Pennsylvania governor had ever won.
His road to victory was also filled with controversy.
The director of the National Women’s Defense League criticized Shapiro’s handling of a sexual harassment complaint against his assistant and said he “should have done better” in that situation. (A spokesperson told Pennsylvania Capital Star that the governor and his administration “take all allegations of discrimination and harassment extremely seriously and have robust procedures in place to thoroughly investigate any reports.”)
Shapiro’s past and current views on the war in Palestine have come under intense pressure from progressives. In a 1993 paper he wrote while in college, Shapiro declared that Palestinians were “too belligerent to establish a peaceful homeland of their own.” This week, he told reporters that his views have changed.
While he has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “one of the worst leaders of all time,” his handling of anti-war protests at universities has left some progressives worried about how he will handle the issue as a close ally of the president.
Before Walz joined the administration in 2007, he was a member of the Army National Guard and a longtime school teacher and football coach. Walz’s recent rise to national prominence has come from candid and conversational interviews in which the Minnesota native has spoken openly about his family and community. He has discussed his family’s use of IVF and criticized GOP attacks on fertility care.
Minnesota governor has been a leading supporter of Trump and his vice presidential nominee, JD Vancesimply “strange”.
