Top VP Contender Is Out of the Running

What we know for sure: the ticket won't read Harris-Cooper. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday he is pulling out of consideration for Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate. One of a dozen or so Democrats under discussion, Cooper said he was "honored to be considered" but "this just wasn't the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket." A provision in North Carolina's constitution notes the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor whenever the governor is out of state, per the Washington Post. That means that if Cooper was on the campaign trail, "GOP firebrand" Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would take his place.

Cooper, a former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, had been considered a top contender due to his long-standing relationship with Harris, dating back to when both served as state attorneys general. But asked to be vetted for vice president, he declined, the New York Times reports. "As I've said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we'll all work to make sure she wins," said 67-year-old Cooper, who's now under discussion as a potential candidate for Senate in 2026.

Other contenders for Harris' running mate include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, per the Post. The 60-year-old Walz, though not very well known outside Minnesota, "is seen as offering a steady, down-to-earth, everyman persona" as well as having "a record of winning over moderate voters and deep roots in the rural Midwest that might serve as a counterpoint to JD Vance," per the Times. "He's got the Midwest grit, the Midwest sensibility and that appeal goes beyond the Midwest," a person familiar with the VP discussions tells Politico. (More Kamala Harris 2024 stories.)