Kamala Harris’s V.P. Scorecard

The vice president is narrowing her choices. How do the top contenders match up on political skills that matter most?

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By Katie Glueck

July 30, 2024, 5:04 a.m. ET

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As Vice President Kamala Harris weighs her running mate options, she may consider governing experience, policy views and personality fit. Or she might cut straight to the urgent matter at hand: Who is going to help her win?

The contenders thought to be under serious consideration each have a distinct set of political assets. Some have geographic ties that may help with the Electoral College math. Some are strong debaters ready to make Democrats’ case.

Here’s a look at how the leading contenders line up on critical political skills they could offer a Democratic ticket, in a matchup against former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio:

Who helps Harris with the map?

Ms. Harris is from California, a solidly Democratic state. If Democrats want a ticket with a home-state advantage in a battleground, they’ll need a vice-presidential candidate to bring it.

Ms. Harris is studying a few options: Senator Mark Kelly represents Arizona, a swing state that helped cement President Biden’s victory four years ago. Before Mr. Biden dropped his re-election bid, Arizona was looking increasingly daunting for Democrats. The Harris campaign may be tempted to use Mr. Kelly to put the state — and its 11 electoral votes — back in play. Mr. Kelly won statewide in Arizona in 2020 and then again in 2022, with 51 percent of the vote.

But there is perhaps no swing state more crucial than Pennsylvania, a fact that gives its governor, Josh Shapiro, instant credibility in the search process. Mr. Shapiro won in 2022, the “highest vote-getter in Pennsylvania gubernatorial history,” according to his team (albeit against a weak Republican opponent.). A Fox News poll released Friday found that 61 percent of Pennsylvania voters viewed him favorably, no easy feat in a closely divided state. Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes. If Ms. Harris loses there, she would need to win just about every other closely contested state to win the White House.

For Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, another top contender, the Electoral College calculus isn’t exactly in his favor. While Mr. Trump has made promises to win Minnesota, and visited this weekend, the state leans Democratic in presidential politics. In November, if Ms. Harris needs Mr. Walz’s help to win Minnesota, she is most likely losing other must-win states as well.

Who helps her with the message?

If Ms. Harris is looking for an attack dog — a viral-clip-making, cable-news-ready machine eager to lace into the Republican ticket — a couple of names rise to the top of the list.

One is new to many Democrats: the avuncular, Midwestern Mr. Walz has become an unexpected star of liberal social media with his plain-spoken pushback on the Republican ticket.

“These are weird people on the other side,” Mr. Walz said on MSNBC, a rallying cry some in his party have embraced. “That’s what it comes down to. And don’t, you know, get sugarcoating this — these are weird ideas.”

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Another possibility is a more familiar favorite for Democrats: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is seen as one of his party’s most effective communicators, capable of both firing up the party faithful and smoothly navigating a Fox News appearance.

Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky has also tried to make a splash in recent interviews by drawing contrasts with Mr. Vance, who hails from neighboring Ohio and spent summers in Kentucky, according to his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

“He claims to be from eastern Kentucky, tries to write a book about it to profit off our people, and then he calls us lazy,” he said recently on CNN.

Others have avoided the cable news sparring.

In recent days, Mr. Shapiro has focused his efforts instead on in-person campaigning for Ms. Harris in his state.

“I want a future with better schools and safer streets, and I want a future with more freedom, not less,” Mr. Shapiro said as he rallied for Ms. Harris on Monday. “I want a future where I can look the 47th president of the United States in the eye and say, ‘Hello, Madam President.’”

And what about money?

In her first week as a presidential candidate, Ms. Harris demonstrated astonishing fund-raising prowess, perhaps lessening the pressure on any running mate if she can keep pace.

But all of the most prominent contenders have experience raising money for big races, often establishing national networks in the process. Mr. Walz currently chairs the Democratic Governors Association, an organization that has posted a record-breaking fund-raising haul this year..

Mr. Kelly, a former astronaut and retired Navy captain — a biography that could help Ms. Harris connect with middle-of-the-road voters — won back-to-back elections in 2020 and for a full term in 2022, raising $89 million in the latter race, and has raised money for Senate colleagues across the country this year.

Mr. Shapiro, fueled by strong fund-raising, spent more than $73 million on his high-profile campaign in 2022, and he has continued to build relationships with national donors. He is expected at a meet-and-greet in the Hamptons on Sunday, hosted by Michael W. Kempner, a Democratic fund-raiser, according to a copy of the invitation reviewed by The New York Times and first reported by CNBC.

Mr. Buttigieg has presidential-level fund-raising experience, showing an ability to generate support from both high-dollar and small-dollar donors during his primary bid in the 2020 contest.

Mr. Beshear, who won re-election last year in his deeply conservative state, has waded into the national fund-raising scene as well, raising money for Democrats in other Republican-leaning territory.

He campaigned for Ms. Harris on Sunday in Forsyth County, Ga., a conservative part of the state. On Tuesday, the campaign’s focus turns to Atlanta, where Ms. Harris is scheduled to hold a rally, joined by the hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion.

Katie Glueck covers American politics with a focus on the Democratic Party. More about Katie Glueck

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