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Joe Biden\u2019s choice to drop his bid in the 2024 presidential election on Sunday reverberated across the nation\u2014and the world. But speculation about who would replace him as the leader of the Democratic party was quickly stifled by Biden\u2019s immediate endorsement of Kamala Harris, his vice president.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Harris will still need to formally clinch the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August, the biggest focus since Biden\u2019s surprise announcement has been about who she would pick as her running mate on November\u2019s ticket. The possibilities are plentiful, but there\u2019s a shortlist of strong contenders who range from a former astronaut to a billionaire. Nearly all of them have one thing in common, though: being a white man from a swing state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The VP pick gives Harris an opportunity to show what the economic policies of a Harris presidency might look like. Unlike Biden, who made \u201cBidenomics\u201d his administration\u2019s signature, Harris is better known for her advocacy around abortion and civil rights than her business stances. That\u2019s where a vice president could potentially fill out the ticket, and why it\u2019s worth examining the policy records of the senators and governors Harris is reportedly considering.<\/p>\n
Fortune <\/em>has compiled a list of potential VP picks for Harris, ranking them on their policies and platforms from being the most business-friendly to the least. Our ranking takes policies into account, including tax cuts, business development, minimum wage, job growth, and workforce development.<\/p>\n Mark Kelly has been to space and back. Could Washington, D.C. be the next destination for this former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain? If his business-friendly record shows anything, it could be. Kelly, who won his position as an Arizona senator in a special election after John McCain\u2019s death, serves on the Joint Economic Committee, which is responsible for reporting the economic condition of the U.S. and how to improve it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s business-friendly policies include:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs an Arizonan, Kelly is arguably the most pro-business candidate,\u201d Keith Gaddie, political science professor at Texas Christian University, tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t support the Green New Deal, and has advocated for loosening oil drilling regulations.\u201d His opposition to the Green New Deal may not make him popular among all progressives, but energy companies could favor his position.<\/p>\n Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has a strong pedigree. His father, Steve Beshear, also served as the democratic governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. Since taking office in late 2019, Beshear\u2014an attorney, who also previously served as Kentucky\u2019s attorney general\u2014has been focused on strengthening workforce development programs and bringing more manufacturing, health-care, and clean-energy jobs to replace coal jobs in the Bluegrass State. He\u2019s also been credited with instigating the \u201cbest economic growth and job creation in state history<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Being considered as a VP candidate is still in the cards for Beshear, although he gave a vague response<\/a> when asked whether he\u2019d say yes if Harris asked: \u201cThe only way I would consider something other than this current job is if I believe I could further help my people and to help this country,\u201d he said, according to Axios<\/em><\/a>. Although \u201chis aggressive COVID policies got him tagged as anti-business,\u201d TCU\u2019s Gaddie says, Beshear has a strong pro-business record.<\/p>\n Beshear\u2019s business-friendly policies:\u00a0<\/p>\n The aforementioned DOE funds are \u201cestimated to provide millions of additional dollars in business investment and to create thousands of energy sector and construction jobs within Kentucky,\u201d Stacy Rosenberg, associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University\u2019s Heinz College for public policy, tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cGovernor Beshear\u2019s focus on commerce as well as his popularity with conservative voters are strong selling points for him to join the Democratic ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n Beshear also gets high marks for his stewardship of public dollars from Pat Garofalo, director of state and local policy at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly group, who told Fortune<\/em> that the Kentucky governor was able to save hundreds of millions of dollars on Medicaid by shifting the plan away from pharmacy benefit managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n You might recognize JB Pritzker\u2019s name\u2014but not necessarily for being a politician. He\u2019s a member of the wealthy Pritzker family who owns the Hyatt hotel chain, which has a current market cap north of $15 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n This makes Pritzker, the first-term governor of Illinois, a billionaire and the richest elected politician in the U.S. at a $3.4 billion net worth and the only potential VP candidate who is \u201cwealthy enough to self-fund,\u201d Alvin Bernard Tillery, a political science professor at Northwestern University, told CBS News<\/em><\/a>. Pritzker said while the news of Biden dropping out of the race came as a \u201cgenuine surprise<\/a>,\u201d he endorsed Harris, although he had been on unofficial shortlists for a potential presidential bid should Biden exit.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom an experience perspective, Pritzker has the strongest resume, given his venture capital background<\/a> and his family\u2019s ownership of Hyatt,\u201d Gaddie says. \u201cHis overall policy record is much more to the left, with a strong \u2018green\u2019 resume and backing an increased minimum wage.\u201d<\/p>\n Pritzker\u2019s business-friendly policies:\u00a0<\/p>\n However, Pritzker stands at the helm of Illinois, which is ranked only No. 15 on CNBC\u2019<\/em>s Top States for Business. \u201cIllinois still lags surrounding states as being business friendly and lags national growth,\u201d Gaddie says.<\/p>\n Roy Cooper serves as the governor of North Carolina, ranked No. 2 on CNBC<\/em>\u2019s Best States to Do Business (only beat out by Virginia), so he must be doing something right to earn that coveted spot. Cooper\u2019s tenure \u201cwill go down as one of the best for jobs and economic growth in the state\u2019s history,\u201d according to Business North Carolina<\/em>, having added more than 550,000 jobs in the past seven years. One of his big wins for the state was working with the GOP legislature to recruit businesses, including Apple<\/a> and major auto manufacturers, to North Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s business-friendly policies:\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Cooper, North Carolina has enjoyed a streak of growth surpassing that of the US overall, with lower unemployment<\/a> and higher job growth.<\/p>\n Cooper also supports more environmentally friendly energy production. It\u2019s likely he\u2019ll spend his last year in office \u201ccontinuing to promote business opportunities in solar and wind energy,\u201d said Tony Copeland, N.C. Secretary of Commerce.\u00a0<\/p>\n Josh Shapiro is a \u201cfresh executive,\u201d Gaddie says, having just taken the office of governor of Pennsylvania in January 2023. But so far, he\u2019s \u201cshown bipartisan tendencies including supporting school choice initiatives,\u201d he adds. \u201cHe wants a higher minimum wage and is focused on workforce development.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s business-friendly initiatives:<\/p>\n Shapiro also has one of the most \u201cclearly defined economic platforms,\u201d Rosenberg says, since his office published a 10-year strategic plan detailing how his administration would partner with industry leaders to \u201cfoster policies that offer a more business-friendly, equitable environment\u201d for Pennsylvania businesses. This approach could help him get the independent voters and Republicans who decide not to back Trump, Rosenberg says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plus, Shapiro is more popular than Biden, according to Philadelphia Magazine<\/em><\/a>. \u201cHis record and platform is highly conventional for a national Democrat,\u201d Gaddie says.<\/p>\n When \u201cMayor Pete\u201d ran for president in 2020, he developed a reputation as a wonky center-left type, having worked for consulting powerhouse McKinsey<\/a> before serving as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. But his tenure as Secretary of Transportation has shown a different side, including a strong pro-consumer streak exemplified by his willingness to go toe-to-toe with airlines and extract hefty penalties.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to cheering the Biden administration\u2019s substantial infrastructure investments, Buttigieg has not hesitated to fine big players like Delta and American Airlines<\/a> for delays<\/a>. Last year, the DOT extracted a record $140 million<\/a> penalty from Southwest Airlines<\/a> over a weeklong scheduling meltdown the airline experienced over the 2022 holiday season.<\/p>\n \u201cThe actions that he took against Southwest were the strongest ever taken by a transportation secretary against an airline, and sent an extreme message to the entire industry,\u201d says William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at AELP, who had been critical of what he called Buttigieg\u2019s inaction in the first two years of Biden\u2019s term.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Buttigieg, the DOT recently finalized two rules<\/a>, opposed by the industry, requiring airlines to issue automatic refunds for canceled or delayed flights and to disclose upfront additional fees for items like carry-ons upfront. The department has also been aggressive in investigating airlines after mishaps, including this week\u2019s tech outage that has grounded Delta flights<\/a> for days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To be sure, Buttigieg\u2019s relatively narrow focus on transportation means he has less of a record than other contenders, but his strong pro-consumer stances should send a message, McGee says.Mark Kelly<\/h2>\n
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Andy Beshear<\/h2>\n
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JB Pritzker<\/h2>\n
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Roy Cooper<\/h2>\n
Josh Shapiro<\/h2>\n
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Pete Buttigieg<\/h2>\n
\u201cIn all the years I\u2019ve been doing this, he has become the toughest enforcer we\u2019ve seen with the airlines,\u201d he tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cDoes Buttigieg have the ability to stand up to other industries? He has shown he can stand up to one of the most deep-pocketed and ambitious lobbies out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n