Harris nears her big VP reveal after fierce lobbying from Democrats

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to reveal her running mate today, a decision that will end a 16-day sprint to vet, interview and choose a person who could potentially become the future leader of the Democratic Party.

Harris’ announcement, coupled with a major rally she plans to hold with her running mate this evening in Philadelphia, will also cap a frenzied period that had, in recent days, exposed some of the party’s internal fissures on matters ranging from labor rights to Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

With only days to consider a range of contenders, Harris and her team were inundated with unsolicited advice — much of it public — about whom she should pick. In the final hours, her allies, fellow Democrats, progressive activists and even some of the potential nominees themselves tried to find ways to sway her decision.

At the center of the maelstrom is Harris, who has fielded input from a small group of formal and informal advisers, including former President Barack Obama, whom she has consulted on policy, personnel decisions and her vice-presidential pick during her whirlwind ascent to the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a person familiar with their conversations.

Some of the candidates even tried to cozy up to influential friends of Harris’, hoping that it might make their way back to the vice president — or at least to one of the people in the tight group of confidants advising her. Two presumed favorites, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have been checking in with Democratic members of Congress by phone in recent days.

Donna Brazile, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said she had recently fielded calls from more than one of Harris’ potential running mates.

“Someone called and said, ‘If you’re asked, will you please make sure you put in a good word for me?,’” Brazile said. She declined to say who had called her, adding, “They’re all my friends.”

The chaotic selection of a vice-presidential candidate happens every campaign season, but the compressed timeline for Harris has prompted a flood of last-minute attempts to either lift the chances of the front-runners or stop their upward trajectories. The stakes are high because of the relatively short vetting timeline and the still-in-flux nature of a campaign that had to turn itself into a Harris-centric operation overnight.

This is also one of the most consequential decisions of Harris’ political career. She has been a state attorney general, a senator and a vice president. But now her party’s future is in her hands, and powerful Democrats have made their preferences known.

Obama, who has established himself as a sounding board for Harris in recent weeks, knows Shapiro well, although the person familiar with his communications with Harris said Obama had not pushed for one candidate over another.

Speculation has also surrounded the preferences of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the influential former House speaker, with some other Democratic members of Congress coming out in support for Walz, a former member of the House. (Appearing on CNN on Monday evening, Pelosi took a diplomatic approach: “I think they’re all great and whoever she picks, I’m for.”)

“I think Nancy has a favorable bias for current and former colleagues in the House, and that’s very understandable,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said of Pelosi. “But ultimately there’s got to be a certain compatibility between Kamala and whoever she picks. Endorsing people has a value in demonstrating support, but at the end of the day, it’s got to be her instinctive decision as well.”

The leading contenders stayed mostly out of the public eye Monday. Shapiro was seen playing basketball in his driveway with one of his sons while his dogs sat nearby. Walz appeared at a fundraiser for Harris in Minneapolis; Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who has also been vetted by the Harris team, appeared at a Harris campaign fundraiser in Chicago.

Harris understands that there is a performative aspect to the vice-presidential sweepstakes, three people familiar with her decision-making process said, but believes that all of it will mean less to her, in the end, than finding chemistry with a running mate, and trusting this person to help her win and govern. The three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, say that Harris wants to pick someone with whom she could quickly build a close and loyalty-driven relationship — something that did not happen immediately with President Joe Biden.

The vice president is well aware of the efforts within her party to influence the outcome of a decision that is ultimately hers to make. Harris spent the weekend in Washington interviewing a short list of candidates and consulting with the small group of people who are helping her decide.

Shapiro, one top option, has faced sharp opposition from progressive groups. Walz, whose folksy sense of humor has made him a social-media darling, is getting a long second look from some influential Democrats. And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is being promoted as a top fundraiser who won two difficult races in a key battleground state.

The group of people who have been closest to Harris as she nears her announcement includes Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’ campaign chair; Sheila Nix, the vice president’s campaign chief of staff; Lorraine Voles, her chief of staff in the vice president’s office; Tony West, her brother-in-law; and Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the campaign. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, whose law firm managed the rapid vetting process, and Dana Remus, a former White House counsel for Biden and an outside legal counsel for the Harris campaign, have also been included in the discussions.

Harris’ style in these discussions — as it is in most professional settings, people who know her note — has been to pepper her advisers with questions, rethink the answers and then run through the questions again.

Obama has also been in contact with Harris in recent days, according to the person familiar with their communications. Obama and Harris have known each other since she became an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign. But over the past month, calls between them have ramped up significantly.

Biden was at home in Wilmington, Delaware, over the weekend while Harris interviewed prospective running mates in Washington. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether he had spoken to Harris as she finished her deliberations.

Once she chooses, Harris will spend much of the next week with her running mate. In San Francisco, Democratic donors received word that she would return to the area to headline a fundraising event in the city Sunday morning, according to three people briefed on the plan.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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