The draft travel schedule, according to two people briefed on her plans, suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris will name her running mate a little earlier than her team had planned.
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Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to a teacher’s union in Houston last week. Five people are said to remain in serious consideration to be her running mate.
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to travel to six battleground states with her yet-to-be-named running mate over four days next week, according to two people briefed on the plans.
Aides to Ms. Harris are penciling in travel for the new Democratic ticket beginning next Tuesday and running through Friday, according to the two people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive plans that have not been finalized.
The draft travel schedule suggests that Ms. Harris will name her running mate no later than next Tuesday, earlier than the deadline on Aug. 7 that her campaign set last week to have the vice-presidential nominee in place. Reuters was first to report that she was scheduled to campaign with her running mate next week.
Details on which states Ms. Harris and her running mate will visit first, or on which day, were still being worked out Tuesday afternoon. Draft schedules indicate she plans to travel to Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to a person who viewed them and relayed their contents.
While the vice president’s team began the search for a running mate by seeking vetting materials from a dozen people, just five are said to remain in serious consideration: Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona; Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Andy Beshear of Kentucky; and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina removed himself from consideration last week, when he declined to participate in the vetting process.
Ms. Harris’s aides have blocked off time for her in the coming days to contemplate her choice, which is considered to be one of the most important decisions a presidential candidate makes, and to conduct additional interviews with finalists.
But tonight, she is scheduled to appear at a campaign rally in Georgia. Campaign aides are expecting a crowd of several thousand people.
Ms. Harris’s search for a running mate has moved at remarkable speed. She has compressed a process that typically plays out over many months into two weeks. Auditions that in past cycles have taken the form of joint-campaign appearances are instead playing out on cable television or with would-be running mates holding campaign stops for her on their own.
Reid J. Epstein covers campaigns and elections from Washington. Before joining The Times in 2019, he worked at The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Newsday and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. More about Reid J. Epstein
See more on: 2024 Elections, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg
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Source: nytimes.com
