New York – Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro are two of the Democrats who are being mentioned as potential running mates for Kamala Harris for the vice presidency of the United States.
The names of both politicians, moderates and from swing states or those that have a greater weight in the outcome of the presidential elections, have been repeated in press reports in recent days as two of those most likely to be selected to balance the ballot.
It will not be until next Tuesday, August 6, that Harris, the first woman of Indian and Jamaican origin to run for president, will announce in Philadelphia who will complete the duo.
The announcement will come one day after the virtual vote by Democratic National Committee (DNC) delegates to confirm Harris as the nominee concludes, prior to the official vote during the national convention in Chicago, Illinois, which begins on August 19.
Shapiro met with Harris’ vetting team on Wednesday, Telemundo Noticias reported, citing sources familiar with the process. The governor also canceled fundraising events he had planned in the Hamptons this weekend.
In Kelly’s case, the report says the politician met with the same team the day before.
In total, the vice president’s campaign managers have held meetings with six potential candidates to accompany her on the ticket.
Below is a description of the political path of the most famous ones and their thematic focus:
Kelly, a former astronaut, graduated with degrees in marine engineering and nautical sciences, as well as aeronautical engineering from the US Merchant Marine Academy and the US Naval Postgraduate School, respectively.
As part of his duty as a Navy pilot, he was deployed in Operation Desert Storm.
After being selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996, Kelly made his first of four trips as pilot of STS-108 in December 2001.
On December 2, 2020, he was sworn in as Arizona senator in the position previously held by Republican John McCain.
From Congress, he voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan in the midst of the pandemic and promoted the Community Navigator Pilot Program to provide tools to small merchants struggling to find resources to keep their businesses operating.
Kelly has also advocated for greater transparency and accountability from officials in the federal capital with resolutions such as one that would require these politicians to publicly share their official agenda.
Kelly is married to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, with whom he has two daughters.
On January 8, 2011, Giffords was injured in a shooting outside a Tucson-area supermarket, in which 13 others were wounded and six people were killed. The attack occurred in the middle of a meeting the lawmaker was holding with her constituents outside the store.
Some analysts believe that this particular situation could be used by Kelly to insist on gun control measures as part of Harris’ agenda.
Another issue Kelly could be vocal about is migration and the border.
In fact, this week in an interview with MSNBC, Kelly criticized Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance for supposedly going to the southern border to take a photo instead of actually solving the problem of border insecurity.
In the exchange with “Morning Joe,” the senator also argued that due to pressure from Donald Trump, Republicans voted against the bipartisan immigration measure supported by the Biden-Harris administration.
“And our goal here was to get this legislation passed and then start working on comprehensive immigration reform, but that was suddenly stopped by Donald Trump, because he wanted to make this an election issue. Like many other Republicans, they don’t really want to fix the problem,” he said.
Josh Shapiro
Shapiro graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of Rochester and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.
Before becoming governor, a position he won in 2022 over Trump challenger Doug Mastriano, he was a state representative. He also served as chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and as attorney general.
Shapiro is married to Lori. The couple has four children, three of them boys.
Some of the issues Shapiro has been vocal about include reproductive rights (a key issue in Harris’ campaign), voting rights, and the legalization of marijuana.
Shapiro has also pledged to push for measures related to health coverage for breast cancer screenings and free food and meal programs for public school students.
During his time as prosecutor, part of his work focused on uncovering cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which in turn led to federal prosecutions of religious leaders from dioceses in Pennsylvania.
Shapiro is also known for his criticism of Trump, such as when he railed against allegations of fraud in the 2020 election that was won by Joe Biden.
There are those who argue that Shapiro, heading into the November elections, would not only be effective in his state, but would also bring Democrats closer to victory in other key states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.
If elected, Shapiro would be the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history.
Shapiro was critical of the way officials at the University of Pennsylvania handled past anti-Semitic protests.
In a May interview with the New York Times, Shapiro indicated that while he did not believe all pro-Palestinian camps were explicitly anti-Semitic, he was concerned that such speech was treated differently than other hate speech.
Her stance on the issue, some say, would not benefit Harris’ candidacy, as it would not bring her closer to Arab communities or to those who question the current administration’s handling of the Gaza issue.
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