USA Media: Harris held talks with Shapiro, Kelly and Walz

Shortly before announcing her running mate for the November election, Democratic US presidential candidate Kamala Harris has reportedly met with potential candidates. As reported by the New York Times and other US media, the 59-year-old held talks in Washington at the weekend with Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona, Governor Tim Walz from Minnesota and Governor Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania.

Harris plans to announce her decision at the beginning of the week. In addition to Shapiro, Kelly and Walz, three other men are considered to have a chance: Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

All eyes on rally in Philadelphia

The Democrat had secured her party's presidential nomination on Friday. In an online vote by the Democrats for the presidential nomination, Harris received the necessary majority of delegate votes long before the polls closed. The vote expires on Tuesday night. Harris is likely to wait until then to announce her choice of running mate.

The first joint appearance of Harris and her deputy is expected on Tuesday evening (local time) in Philadelphia in the swing state of Pennsylvania. The duo will then travel through the seven most contested states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. In these so-called swing states, it is not clear in advance whether the Republican or Democratic candidate will traditionally win.

Shapiro will definitely be there

Pennsylvania is the most important swing state with 20 electoral votes. Shapiro is therefore also considered to have a good chance of becoming Harris' running mate. The 51-year-old has been Pennsylvania's governor since 2023 and will definitely be at the rally in Philadelphia in this capacity.

Before that, Shapiro was attorney general in the state. He is relatively new to the national political stage. Shapiro is considered a moderate and is very popular. He has been considered for higher office for some time. Left-wing forces in the party consider him too conservative on important issues.

The selection of a running mate in a US election campaign is usually a complicated and time-consuming process, which now has to be carried out in a rush. This is because Harris became a candidate at extremely short notice following the withdrawal of US President Joe Biden from the presidential race. Harris will therefore run against Trump in the election on November 5.

SDA