After Biden’s withdrawal, who will be Kamala Harris’ running mate? The names circulating – L’Express

“I want to give my full support and backing to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year,” Joe Biden tweeted following his withdrawal from the presidential campaign, announced on Sunday, July 21. The current vice president will have to wait until the Democratic Party convention, from August 19 to 21, to be officially invested as a candidate.

If only for financial logistical reasons, the former lawyer’s candidacy is a must. At this stage of the campaign, the donations mobilized for the ticket – the president and vice-president tandem – that she formed with Joe Biden would be more easily transferred to her. Due to the credibility of Kamala Harris’ candidacy, names are already being considered to occupy the position of running mate, and thus form the new Democratic ticket.

In the columns of L’Express, Charles Kupchan, professor at Georgetown University and former advisor to Barack Obama, outlines the choices that Kamala Harris will have to make when designating her vice-president. “Do I choose someone who has the qualities of Gretchen Whitmer or do I play it safe by choosing a white man of a swing state?“, he problematizes.

Gretchen Whitmer. The name of the Democratic governor of Michigan is popular in the American press to accompany Kamala Harris. However, by choosing more masculine profiles, occupying key positions in territories historically acquired to the Republican cause, the Democratic candidate would be banking on a profile meeting the requirement mentioned by Charles Kupchan.

Gretchen Whitmer and the first all-female tandem?

“Gretchen Whitmer is an extraordinarily attractive candidate and she would be a great complement to Kamala Harris, she’s very strong, she’s been a centrist Democrat in a divided state,” Charles Kupchan said of the Michigan governor. Following Joe Biden’s withdrawal, the 52-year-old politician initially announced she would not run for president, before expressing her support for Kamala Harris’ candidacy.

Elected in 2019, she dealt with the health crisis by taking “radical containment measures” that exposed her to criticism from both her voters and Republicans. The beginning of the crisis had been managed at the federal level by the Trump administration. However, she was “easily” reelected to her post in 2022, according to Bloomberg.

Another highlight of his tenure: a foiled kidnapping attempt that involved the arrest of at least a dozen men. His handling of Covid and his re-election, combined with this sordid affair, further entrench him as a “foil to Donald Trump,” according to NBC News. On July 21, she tweeted: “My job in this election will remain the same: to do everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump.” Her inclusion on Kamala Harris’ ticket would make this all-female ticket a first in American election history.

Andy Beshear, the “geographic counterweight”

Aged 46, the governor of Kentucky – a territory won by Trump in 2020 with a 26-point lead – embodies youth at a time when President Biden is bowing out due to doubts about his physical and cognitive condition. To make his voice heard, the Democrat can rely on an interesting record. In office since 2019, re-elected in 2023, Andy Beshear is “praised for his management of Covid and natural disasters such as tornadoes or floods”, according to BloombergOn the economic front, it is calling for the establishment of two battery factories for electric cars.

Politico presents him as a member of the “political nobility of Kentucky”, since his father Steve Beshear held the same position as him, from 2007 to 2015. His territorial anchoring makes him, according to the economic media, an interesting “geographic counterweight” in a tandem with the Californian Kamala Harris.

Mark Kelly, Gulf War veteran

“Retired astronaut and Gulf War veteran, [Mark Kelly] would provide a Democratic presidential candidate with significant national security guarantees,” he said. Bloomberg. The current senator from Arizona assured on X his support for the vice president in her quest for the nomination.

He occupies a central position in his camp, reassuring the most left-wing part of the Democrats because of his commitment against firearms. His wife, Gabby Giffords, had been the victim of an assassination attempt in 2011 while she was serving as a United States representative in the 8th district of Arizona.

Moreover, Bloomberg believes he is able to “neutralize Republican attacks on the Biden administration’s handling of immigration.” The 60-year-old is considered a “moderate” on the issue, having been elected in a border state. Especially since the responsibility for managing immigration issues, under the Biden administration, had been entrusted to a certain… Kamala Harris.

Roy Cooper, the ambitious

“If I were a journalist, he’s someone I would keep an eye on,” Jim Clyburn, representative for South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, advised last month in the columns of PoliticoAt 67, after two consecutive terms as governor of North Carolina, which prevents him from running again, Roy Cooper’s ambitions are directed towards Washington.

His state, won by a narrow margin by Trump in 2020 (+2 points), is a major issue for the upcoming presidential election. As swing state – a pivotal state, capable of switching from one camp to the other – coveted by the Democrats, its popularity could work in its favor.

On the political front, Roy Cooper has made a name for himself on abortion issues. Faced with Republican overrepresentation in the General Assembly – the legislative body – he has filed a multitude of vetoes against pro-life amendments. In an interview last March with NBC News, He assured: “I still have some left in the tank. I will see what options are available to me when I leave my post as governor.”