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2020 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection facts for kids

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Joe Biden picked U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on August 11, 2020

This article listed possible candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2020 election.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee for President of the United States, will choose his running mate at some point before the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Biden promised to select a woman, which make it the third time in United States history that the vice presidential nominee of a major party has been a woman, after Geraldine Ferraro (1984) and Sarah Palin (2008).

On August 11, 2020 Biden picked U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Vetting process

Vetting is the process of beginning to search and or hire a person for an important job. In this case, vetting is the process of Biden's campaign looking for a running mate. The Biden campaign was reported to have begun the vetting process of potential running mates in May 2020. In July 2020, Biden said that "I am not committed to naming any but the people I've named, and among them are four Black women".

At first, Biden hoped to announce his running mate the week of August 5, 2020, however his campaign has pushed the announcement date to before the DNC Convention would start, which would be August 16 or before. The New York Times reported on August 10, that an announcement of who Biden picked as his running mate will happen either August 11 or August 12.

His running mate vetting process has been criticized for Biden's campaign alleged "blatant disrespectful" treatment towards black women and sexism.

Final candidates

On June 26, 2020, CNN and The Washington Post reported that the following five individuals were the leading candidates for the nomination. On July 29, just a week before Biden's planned announcement, The Hill reported that Karen Bass, Harris, Rice, and Warren had emerged as the "top tier" of candidates. On August 2, CNN reported that Tammy Duckworth and Gretchen Whitmer were also still under consideration.

Other individuals considered

The following six individuals were originally cited to have begun undergoing vetting by the Biden campaign in May or June 2020, but it is uncertain whether they have moved on to further stages in subsequent months or not. Following the George Floyd protests, Amy Klobuchar was criticized for her lack of prosecution of police misconduct during her tenure, including a case involving the officer accused of murdering Floyd. On June 18, she announced that she had removed herself from consideration and urged for Biden to select a woman of color.

Declined to be considered

The following individuals publicly confirmed that they had declined to be vetted by the Biden campaign.

Opinion polling

Vice presidential polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size
Stacey Abrams
Tammy Baldwin
Karen Bass
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Catherine Cortez Masto
Val Demings
Tammy Duckworth
Kamala Harris
Amy Klobuchar
Michelle Lujan Grisham
Gina Raimondo
Susan Rice
Elizabeth Warren
Gretchen Whitmer
Others
Undecided
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% –

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