Who might be Kamala Harris’ running mate? Pray through her reported “short list” . . . 

From National Pulse. Those under consideration include Governors Roy Cooper (D-NC), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Andy Beshear (D-KY), J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI). Additionally, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, is a leading candidate favored by Harris.

View Comments (9)

While Harris’s 20-year public office record is well-known, the political positions of her potential running mates are less familiar. The National Pulse has compiled a primer on each candidate and their stances.

ROY COOPER

Elected as Governor of North Carolina in 2017, Roy Cooper, 67, is a strong contender for Kamala Harris’s running mate. An attorney by trade, Cooper served as the state’s Attorney General for nearly 16 years before becoming governor. . . .

As governor, Cooper has focused on the opioid epidemic, earning a reputation as a moderate Democrat. However, his authoritarian COVID-19 lockdown orders and mask mandates contrast this view. In 2023, he expanded the state’s Medicaid program. . . .

JOSH SHAPIRO

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, 51, is an emerging figure in national Democratic politics. Elected in 2022, Shapiro is relatively new to the political stage but served as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General from 2017 to 2023.

Viewed as a moderate Democrat, Shapiro has shown openness to school vouchers as governor, drawing criticism from the teacher’s union. In the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, he built a reputation as a bipartisan consensus builder. . . .

ANDY BESHEAR

Andy Beshear, son of former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, is the state’s current governor. Often mislabeled as a political ‘blue dog,’ Beshear aligns more with the far left and progressives like Kamala Harris.

After taking office in 2019, Beshear fired all eleven members of the state’s board of education, replacing them with progressive ideologues who promote a DEI agenda. He is a strong advocate for abortion and gay marriage, in stark contrast to his father, who opposed gay marriage. . . .

J.B. PRITZKER

J.B. Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, is the current Governor of Illinois. He secured a second term in the 2022 mid-terms. Pritzker champions progressive causes, including abortion and gender ideology, influenced by his transgender sibling, Jennifer Pritzker. . . .

Pritzker also promotes a lenient stance on crime, addressing racial disparities in traffic stops and eliminating cash bail in 2021, potentially allowing violent criminals to go free before trial.

GRETCHEN WHITMER

As Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer‘s biggest claim to fame is a 2020 plot ‘thwarted’ by the FBI in which individuals plotted to kidnap her. However, after at least two attempts, several of the alleged plotters were acquitted of their crimes as evidence emerged that they were pushed towards the plot by an FBI informant—meaning the federal law enforcement agency entrapped them.

An unabashed progressive, . . . . Whitmer has moved to close numerous oil and gas facilities in the state—focusing instead on so-called green and renewable energy initiatives. As governor, she is expanding the state’s refugee resettlement program and canceled the sale of a shuttered state prison when she discovered it would be used as an illegal immigrant detention center.

MARK KELLY

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, is among the vice presidential candidates under consideration. Elected in a 2020 special election to replace the late Sen. John McCain, Kelly often highlights his NASA astronaut background to bolster his American hero image.

Politically, Kelly’s record is controversial. After the January 6 Capitol riots, he urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump. . . . .

MAYOR PETE

Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s Transportation Secretary, may be on Harris’s vice presidential shortlist. An openly gay candidate, Buttigieg could appeal to various demographics and make history as the first openly gay Vice President. . . .

Do you need help praying for/about these men and women, all of whom are serving in government? Download IFA’s free classic resource: 30 Ways to Pray for Those in Authority.

Excerpt from National Pulse. Photo credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Kamala Harris, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79476994