| Election Name: | 2020 Democratic vice presidential nomination |
| Type: | primary |
| Previous Election: | 2016 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Nominee1: | Kamala Harris |
| Colour1: | 1E90FF |
| Home State1: | California |
| Vice Presidential nominee | |
| Before Election: | Tim Kaine |
| After Election: | Kamala Harris |
This article lists the candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election. Former Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware, the 2020 Democratic nominee for President of the United States, considered several prominent Democrats and other individuals before selecting Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate on August 11, 2020. Harris formally won the vice presidential nomination on August 19, 2020, at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The Biden–Harris ticket would go on to defeat the Trump–Pence ticket in the general election.
In March 2020, Biden promised to select a woman as his running mate, which marked the third time that the vice presidential nominee of a major party in the United States has been a woman, after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008.
Harris became the vice president upon inauguration in January 2021 alongside President Biden. She is the first woman to be vice president of the United States, making her the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history, and she is also the first Asian American and Black American vice president.[1] She would go on to become the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 election.[2]
At the March 15, 2020, Democratic primary debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Biden committed to selecting a woman as his running mate.[3] At that same debate, Sanders stated that he would likely do the same, but did not pledge to do so.[4] Biden became the presumptive presidential nominee after Sanders dropped out on April 8,[5] though the Democratic ticket would not be officially nominated until the 2020 Democratic National Convention in August 2020. With his pledge, his running mate became the third woman to be the vice presidential nominee of a major party in United States history, following Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008.[6]
Biden indicated that he would make his selection on the basis of shared political beliefs and past experience. He noted that his selection would likely be younger than he is and that he would likely pick someone who is "ready on Day 1 to be president."[7] On April 30, it was announced that the vetting committee would consist of Lisa Blunt Rochester, Chris Dodd, Eric Garcetti, and Cynthia Hogan.[8]
Biden had initially planned to make his announcement regarding his running mate selection "around" August 1.[9] The announcement date was later pushed back to the second week in August.[10] [11] [12] On August 11, it was reported that Biden had selected his running mate and an announcement was imminent.
Later that day, Kamala Harris was revealed as Biden's vice presidential running mate.[13] Harris was the junior U.S. senator from California, first elected in 2016. She additionally has experience as the Attorney General of California, San Francisco District Attorney, and as a prosecutor. Harris was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, before suspending her campaign in December 2019, later endorsing Biden's campaign in March 2020. Harris was the third woman vice presidential running mate of a major party and the first Asian American.[14] Harris additionally is the first Democrat from the Western United States to appear on a presidential ticket; Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, a Western state, but was nominated as a representative of Illinois.[15]
On August 13, The New York Times reported the four finalists were Kamala Harris, Susan Rice, Elizabeth Warren, and Gretchen Whitmer.[16]
The Biden campaign was reported to have begun the vetting process of potential running mates in May 2020.[17] [18] The following officials were reported to have undergone vetting by the Biden campaign.[19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] However, following the George Floyd protests, Amy Klobuchar was criticized for her lack of prosecution of police misconduct during her tenure as Hennepin County County Attorney, including a case involving the officer who murdered Floyd.[27] [28] [29] On June 18, she announced that she had removed herself from consideration and urged for Biden to select a woman of color.[30] [31]
On June 12, the Associated Press reported that Keisha Lance Bottoms, Val Demings, Kamala Harris, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Susan Rice, and Elizabeth Warren had advanced to further stages in the vetting process, with the possibility that some other vetted candidates had as well.[32] On June 26, CNN reported that Bottoms, Demings, Harris, and Warren were at that point the leading candidates for the nomination.[33]
On July 29, just a week before Biden's initially planned announcement, The Hill reported that Karen Bass, Harris, Rice, and Warren had emerged as the "top tier" of candidates.[34] On August 2, CNN reported that Tammy Duckworth and Gretchen Whitmer were also still under consideration.[35] On August 10, The New York Times reported that Biden's running mate committee had finished interviewing the possible candidates and that an announcement was "imminent".[36]
In addition to the four finalists, the following individuals were reported to be on Biden's shortlist.
The following individuals publicly confirmed that they had declined to be vetted by the Biden campaign.
The following individuals received coverage as potential running mates from multiple news sources, but were not reported to have been asked to undergo vetting by the Biden campaign.
A Siena College/The New York Times poll released on June 26, 2020, found that over 80% of respondents said that race should not be a factor in Biden's selection.[37]
A Politico/Morning Consult poll released on July 15, 2020, found that 54% of respondents felt that Biden's VP pick will not affect their vote, 16% said it would have a major impact, and 20% said only a minor impact.[38]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Economist/YouGov | August 2–4, 2020 | 600 (RV) | 6% | 1% | 1% | 3% | – | 3% | 8% | 22% | – | 0% | – | 11% | 21% | 3% | 3% | 19% | ||
| Yahoo News/YouGov | July 28–30, 2020 | 1088 (RV) | 8% | 3% | 3% | 5% | – | 4% | 6% | 25% | – | 2% | 2% | 14% | 22% | 5% | – | – | ||
| Hill-HarrisX | July 20–21, 2020 | 947 (RV) | 6% | 3% | – | 3% | – | 3% | 4% | 15% | – | 4% | – | 12% | 16% | 4% | 30% | – | ||
| Data for Progress | July 20, 2020 | 538 (RV) | 8% | 3% | 1% | 10% | – | 3% | 6% | 21% | – | 2% | – | 6% | 23% | 4% | – | 13% | ||
| Yahoo! News/YouGov | Jun 9–10, 2020 | 1288 (RV) | 14% | – | – | 6% | – | 8% | – | 24% | 14% | – | – | – | 30% | 5% | – | – | ||
| Monmouth | Jun 1–9, 2020 | 2240 (LV) | 10% | – | – | 2% | – | 7% | – | 28% | 12% | – | – | 2% | 13% | 2% | 8% | – | ||
| Yahoo! News/YouGov | May 4–5, 2020 | 1224 (RV) | 11% | 5% | – | – | 6% | – | – | 17% | 18% | – | – | – | 34% | 8% | – | – | ||
| Vox | May 1, 2020 | 605 (V) | 7% | – | – | – | 3% | – | – | 15% | 9% | – | – | – | 42% | 4% | – | 20% | ||
| CBS/YouGov | Apr 28–May 1, 2020 | 1671 (LV) | 14% | 1% | – | – | 2% | 3% | 3% | 19% | 13% | 1% | – | 4% | 36% | 3% | 1% | – | ||
| Economist/YouGov | Apr 26–28, 2020 | 1222 (RV) | 8% | 2% | – | – | – | – | – | 9% | 7% | – | – | – | 15% | 2% | 13% | 44% | ||
| Harvard/Harris | Apr 14–16, 2020 | 2394 (RV) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10% | 10% | 1% | – | – | 13% | 3% | 63% | – |