2016 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

2016 Democratic vice presidential nomination

July 22, 2016 (2016-07-22)

Nominee Tim Kaine Home state Virginia

Previous Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine

This article lists potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for President of the United States, chose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate.^[1][2] The formal nomination took place at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The Clinton–Kaine ticket ultimately lost to the Trump–Pence ticket in the general election, and Kaine returned to the Senate following the campaign.

Selection process

By April 2016, Clinton had begun discussions with advisers and allies regarding her potential running mate, though Bernie Sanders continued to challenge her in the Democratic primaries.^[3] According to campaign sources, Clinton did not have a particular running mate in mind, and did not feel pressured to pick a running mate designed specifically to appeal to Sanders supporters.^[3] Clinton's low public approval ratings led many of her allies to recommend that she choose a running mate with the potential to inspire voters, but Clinton's campaign expressed confidence that her ratings would improve once the Republicans had selected a candidate.^[3] There was relatively little public discussion about Sanders's running mate selection process.^[4] As the 2016 Republican National Convention took place roughly one week before the July 25–28 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic presidential nominee was set to choose her running mate after the Republicans nominated their ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.^[3] Clinton's running mate selection process was led by campaign chairman John Podesta and Cheryl Mills,^[3][5] while the vetting process was led by attorney James Hamilton.^[6] In discussing her potential vice presidential choice, Clinton stated that the most important attribute she was looking for is the ability and experience to immediately step into the role of president.^[7] In contrast to previous Democratic presidential nominees, Clinton allowed for a relatively open selection process, holding rallies with many potential running mates and placing little emphasis on keeping her short list confidential.^[8]

Announcement

On July 22, Clinton announced via Twitter that she had chosen Tim Kaine as her running mate.^[2] After the selection, Amy Chozick of The New York Times described Kaine as a "battleground state politician with working-class roots and a fluency in Spanish."^[9] Like his Republican counterpart, Mike Pence, Kaine has experience both as a governor and a member of Congress.^[10]

If the Clinton-Kaine ticket had won election, Kaine would have resigned from the Senate, with Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe appointing Kaine's replacement prior to a 2017 special election.^[10][11] According to journalist Glenn Thrush, Kaine had been the preferred choice of Clinton since at least February 2016.^[12]

Reported shortlist

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 16, 2016, that Clinton's shortlist included the following nine individuals.^[13]

• 
  Representative
  Xavier Becerra
  of California
• 
  Senator
  Cory Booker
  of New Jersey
• 
  Senator
  Sherrod Brown
  of Ohio
• 
  Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  Julián Castro
  of Texas
• 
  Mayor of Los Angeles
  Eric Garcetti
  of California
• 
  Senator and former Governor
  Tim Kaine
  of Virginia
• 
  Secretary of Labor
  Tom Perez
  of Maryland
• 
  Representative
  Tim Ryan
  of Ohio
• 
  Senator
  Elizabeth Warren
  of Massachusetts

According to a CNN report published on June 21, 2016, Clinton had narrowed down her list to no more than five contenders, including Kaine, Warren, and Castro.^[14] However, a separate report in The Washington Post released that same day stated that, while Clinton had begun vetting Kaine, Warren, and Castro, more than a dozen people remained on her list of possible running mates.^[15] On July 7, 2016, CNN reported that Clinton had narrowed down her shortlist to five people: Brown, Kaine, Perez, Warren, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. On July 12, 2016, The New York Times confirmed that the Clinton campaign was vetting former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Retired Admiral James G. Stavridis.^[16] Clinton also met with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in mid-July, fueling speculation that he might be chosen as the vice presidential nominee.^[7] After Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump named Mike Pence as his running mate on July 15, Kaine and Vilsack emerged as the top two contenders, although other individuals such as Perez remained in contention.^[7]

• 
  Governor
  John Hickenlooper
  of Colorado^[17]
• 
  Retired Admiral and former NATO commander
  James Stavridis
  of Florida^[16]
• 
  Secretary of Agriculture
  Tom Vilsack
  of Iowa^[18]

WikiLeaks List

On October 18, 2016 WikiLeaks released more hacked emails from Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta. One of these emails Podesta sent Clinton was a "first cut of people to consider for VP" in March 2016. He wrote that this list had been generated with other top aides. Podesta organized the list of 39 contenders into what he called "food groups" apparently based around identities — Latinos, women, African-Americans, military brass, and business leaders.^[19]

• 
  Retired U.S. Marine Corps General
  John Allen
• 
  Senator
  Tammy Baldwin
  of Wisconsin
• 
  General Motors CEO
  Mary Barra
  of Michigan
• 
  Representative
  Xavier Becerra
  of California
• 
  Mayor of Columbia
  Stephen Benjamin
  of South Carolina
• 
  Senator
  Michael Bennet
  of Colorado
• 
  Former Mayor of New York City
  Michael Bloomberg
  of New York
• 
  Senator
  Cory Booker
  of New Jersey
• 
  Senator
  Sherrod Brown
  of Ohio
• 
  Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  Julián Castro
  of Texas
• 
  Apple CEO
  Tim Cook
  of California
• 
  Secretary of Transportation
  Anthony Foxx
  of North Carolina
• 
  Mayor of Los Angeles
  Eric Garcetti
  of California
• 
  Former CEO and founder of Microsoft
  Bill Gates
  of Washington
• 
  Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  Melinda Gates
  of Washington
• 
  Senator
  Kirsten Gillibrand
  of New York
• 
  Mayor of Tallahassee
  Andrew Gillum
  of Florida
• 
  Senator
  Martin Heinrich
  of New Mexico
• 
  Former Attorney General
  Eric Holder
  of New York
• 
  Senator and former Governor
  Tim Kaine
  of Virginia
• 
  CEO of The Coca-Cola Company
  Muhtar Kent
  of Georgia
• 
  Senator
  Amy Klobuchar
  of Minnesota
• 
  Governor
  Terry McAuliffe
  of Virginia
• 
  Senator
  Claire McCaskill
  of Missouri
• 
  Retired U.S. Navy Admiral and chancellor of The University of Texas
  Bill McRaven
• 
  Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  Michael Mullen
• 
  Senator
  Chris Murphy
  of Connecticut
• 
  President of The Rockefeller Foundation
  Judith Rodin
  of Pennsylvania
• 
  Former Governor
  Deval Patrick
  of Massachusetts
• 
  Secretary of Labor
  Tom Perez
  of Maryland
• 
  Mayor of Atlanta
  Kasim Reed
  of Georgia
• 
  Former Secretary of the Interior
  Ken Salazar
  of Colorado
• 
  Senator and
  2016 presidential candidate
  Bernie Sanders
  of Vermont
• 
  CEO of Starbucks
  Howard Schultz
  of Washington
• 
  Senator
  Jeanne Shaheen
  of New Hampshire
• 
  Senator
  Debbie Stabenow
  of Michigan
• 
  Secretary of Agriculture
  Tom Vilsack
  of Iowa
• 
  Senator
  Elizabeth Warren
  of Massachusetts

Other speculated candidates

The following individuals received coverage as potential running mates from multiple news sources. These individuals do not appear on the short list above or on the Wikileaks list.

Cabinet members

• 
  Former Secretary of Commerce
  Gary Locke
  of Washington
  (2009–2011)^[20]
• 
  Former Secretary of Homeland Security
  Janet Napolitano
  of Arizona
  (2009–2013)^[21]

Members of Congress

• 
  Former Senator
  Evan Bayh
  of Indiana
  (1999–2011)^[22]
• 
  Representative
  Joaquín Castro
  of Texas
  (2013–present)^[23]
• 
  Senator
  Al Franken
  of Minnesota
  (2009–2018)^[24]
• 
  Senator
  Jeff Merkley
  of Oregon
  (2009–present)^[25]
• 
  Senator
  Patty Murray
  of Washington
  (1993–present)^[21]
• 
  Senator
  Bill Nelson
  of Florida
  (2001–2019)^[3]
• 
  Senator
  Mark Warner
  of Virginia
  (2009–present)^[26]

Governors

• 
  Former Governor
  Steve Beshear
  of Kentucky
  (2007–2015)^[26]
• 
  Former Governor
  and 2016 presidential candidate
  Martin O'Malley
  of Maryland
  (2007–2015)^[26]
• 
  Former Governor
  Brian Schweitzer
  of Montana
  (2005–2013)^[26]

Other individual

• 
  California Attorney General
  Kamala Harris^[a]
  of California
  (2011–2017)^[27]

See also

• Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign
• 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidates
• 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2016 Democratic National Convention
• 2016 United States presidential election
• List of United States major party presidential tickets

Notes

1. Harris was the vice presidential nominee for the 2020 election, and became Vice President on January 20, 2021.

References

1. Kantor, Danielle (July 23, 2016). "8 things you need to know about Tim Kaine, your next vice president". Hillary for America. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
2. Memoli, Michael (July 22, 2016). "Hillary Clinton picks Tim Kaine, Virginia senator and former governor, as her running mate". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
3. Healy, Patrick (April 23, 2016). "Hillary Clinton's Campaign, Cautious but Confident, Begins Considering Running Mates". The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
4. Kelly, Nora (April 23, 2016). "Choosing the Veep of Your Dreams". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
5. Pace, Julie (June 21, 2016). "Hillary Clinton's VP search moves into more intense phase". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
6. Freed, Benjamin. "Meet the DC Lawyer Helping Hillary Clinton Pick a Running Mate", Washingtonian, June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
7. Gearan, Anne (July 19, 2016). "Two names emerge from Clinton's VP deliberations: Kaine and Vilsack". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
8. Arnsdorf, Isaac (July 22, 2016). "Clinton VP hopefuls face public rejection". Politico. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
9. Chozick, Amy (July 22, 2016). "Hillary Clinton Selects Tim Kaine, a Popular Senator From a Swing State, as Running Mate". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
10. Gearan, Anne; Wagner, John (July 22, 2016). "Sen. Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia chosen as Hillary Clinton's VP". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
11. McCaskill, Nolan (July 22, 2016). "Clinton picks Kaine as her running mate". Politico. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
12. Thrush, Glenn (July 23, 2016). "5 takeaways on Tim Kaine". Politico. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
13. Matthews, Dylan (June 16, 2016). "Hillary Clinton's VP shortlist has leaked. Here are the pros and cons of each". Vox.com. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
14. Zeleny, Jeff; Merica, Dan (June 21, 2016). "Clinton closing in on running mate search". CNN. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
15. Gearan, Anne; Weigel, David (June 21, 2016). "Clinton is vetting three for vice president — but is still studying a longer list". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
16. Parker, Ashley (July 12, 2016). "James Stavridis, Retired Admiral, Is Being Vetted as Hillary Clinton's Running Mate". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
17. Sabato, Larry (May 12, 2016). "The Veepstakes, Part One: Clinton's Choices". University of Virginia. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
18. Zeleny, Jeff; Merica, Dan (July 7, 2016). "Clinton narrowing VP choice, waiting for Trump". CNN. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
19. Seitz-Wald, Alex (October 18, 2016). "Hacked Emails Reveal 39 Names on Clinton's 'First Cut' VP List". NBC News. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
20. Zhang, Mengyuan (July 1, 2016). "希拉里会考虑骆家辉当副手 成为首位华裔副总统吗？("Will Hillary Clinton consider Gary Locke as her assistant to become the first Asian American VP in United States history?")". Sohu News. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
21. Cillizza, Chris (April 21, 2016). "Hillary Clinton isn't picking Elizabeth Warren for vice president. Here's why". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
22. Goldstein, Joel (January 7, 2016). "Five Factors That Will Define the Running Mates". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
23. Sullivan, Sean (March 7, 2014). "Handicapping the 2016 vice presidential field. Yes, you read that right". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
24. Scher, Bill (March 27, 2016). "The Case for Vice President Al Franken". Politico. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
25. "Hillary Clinton should choose Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley for vice president: Letters to the Editor". The Oregonian. April 26, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
26. Wasson, Erik; Cirilli, Kevin (May 31, 2014). "A veep for Hillary Clinton in 2016?". The Hill. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
27. Allen, Mike (January 29, 2015). "Inside Hillary Clinton's 2016 plan". Politico. Retrieved October 4, 2015.