Buttigieg top choice for Harris VP among available candidates: poll

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the former Indiana mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate now raising a family in his husband’s home state of Michigan, is Democrats’ top choice to become Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate among available candidates, according to a new poll.

An NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll taken Monday asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, “who would you most like to see selected as the Democratic nominee for Vice President?” among a list of eight top contenders.

The eight included in the poll are: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

Governors Whitmer and Moore have since clearly stated they are not interested in the role, but reports state Gov. Whitmer is being vetted.

Of those eight Democrats, Governor Whitmer and Secretary Buttigieg are tied, at 21%, in the Marist poll.

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Gov. Shapiro comes in third at 17%, followed by Sen. Kelly (13%), Gov. Cooper (8%), Gov. Pritzker (7%), and Governors Beshear and Moore (8%).

The poll breaks down across demographics including geography, household income, education level, race/ethnicity, race and education, age, gender, and size of home town/city. It also breaks out Small city/Suburban Men, and Small city/Suburban Women.

Across all candidates and demographics, the highest percent is 28%, which is owned by Buttigieg under the “Region” category: 28% of Democrats in the West support Buttigieg to be Harris’s vice presidential running mate.

Whitmer has the strongest polling in several categories, but removing her from the equation, assuming she refuses to join the ticket, Buttigieg is the clear top choice among those polled.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday four candidates appear to be getting the most attention, although the campaign is looking at about a dozen potential candidates:

“While much of the political conversation has centered on four names — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — Harris’ team has requested information from about a dozen officials, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential process.”

Of course, presidential candidates look at a wide variety of factors when choosing their running mates.

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In 2020, then-de-facto nominee Joe Biden said, “You have to be intellectually simpatico. You have to be on the same wavelength. Now, Barack and I never disagreed on the strategy. We sometimes disagreed on tactic.”

NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid at the time noted, “Biden says he is also looking for someone who has strengths that he does not have, which is fairly common. In 2012, the Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who had no experience on Capitol Hill at the time, chose Paul Ryan, who was a leading Republican member of the House. In 2008, John McCain made a competitive calculation when he was running against Barack Obama.”

“The conventional rule is that a running mate should do no harm,” she added.

Vice President Harris may be thinking about that in particular amid reports Donald Trump and the GOP appear to be regretting his choice of U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH).

Harris is expected to announce her choice of running mate by August 7, according to The Associated Press. The Democratic National Convention starts August 19.

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