The Intersection of Law and Politics
When President Biden introduced Kamala Harris as his running mate four years ago, he shared their origin story: He had first learned of her, he said, through his son Beau, who served with her as a state attorney general.
“I know how much Beau respected Kamala and her work,” Mr. Biden said of his son, who died in 2015 and was Delaware’s attorney general when Ms. Harris held the same job in California. “That mattered a lot to me, to be honest with you, as I made this decision.”
Now it is Vice President Harris who is deciding on a running mate. As she leans into her law enforcement background and Democrats frame the race against former President Donald J. Trump as a choice between a prosecutor and a felon, the path to the Democratic ticket may again run through a class of ambitious former attorneys general who came up alongside her.
Possible Contenders
- Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina: He directly overlapped with Ms. Harris as an attorney general.
- Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky: Another former attorney general who worked alongside Ms. Harris.
- Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania: He came into the job as she was leaving her post.
Interviews with more than a dozen people who worked with Ms. Harris and those men at the time offer a window into her relationships with these possible running mates, and a snapshot of what each might bring — a steady, seasoned hand; political potency in an essential battleground state; or proven appeal in conservative territory. All would offer “balance” to the ticket along the lines of geography, ideology, and executive experience.
According to Karl Racine, the former attorney general of Washington, D.C., these men have also proved their ability to work in a way “that would benefit not only members of their party but all of the residents in their states.”
