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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly are reportedly considered the leading candidates to be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate on the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election, a senior administration official told ABC News' Martha Raddatz on Tuesday (July 23).
Both Shapiro, 51, and Kelly, 60, represent battlegrounds states won by President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and have previously defeated candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in the past. Shapiro defeated Republican Doug Mastriano in the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, while Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy captain, won his Senate seat against GOP candidate Blake Masters in 2022.
Harris, 59, has already crossed the threshold of the 1,976 pledged delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot and raised $49.6 million in grassroots donations within one day of officially announcing her presidential campaign on Sunday (July 21). The vice president currently has no credible challenger for the Democratic nomination and the endorsement of several top officials within the party including President Joe Biden, who said he wanted to "offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year" in a post shared on his social media accounts.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement obtained by Variety. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
Biden announced his decision to end his campaign in a letter to Americans shared on his social media accounts Sunday afternoon. The president's decision came amid reports of uncertainty regarding his re-election campaign following a disastrous performance in the first presidential debate against Trump, 78, last month.