Vice President Kamala Harris is less than two weeks away from naming her own running mate.
That’s the timeline the presumptive Democratic nominee has given to a team of lawyers and advisers who are conducting one of the most accelerated vice presidential searches in modern American history, people familiar with the process tell CNN, with a goal of announcing a nominee before August 7.
Democrats close to the process say the roster of leading contenders being vetted still includes North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has developed a close relationship with Harris and has also been previously vetted and confirmed by the Senate, is also under consideration, along with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, sources say.
“She will pick someone she’s comfortable with – someone who is ready to be president,” a Democrat close to the process tells CNN, adding that Harris is not tipping her hand to any early favorites among the contenders.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder is leading a team that is poring through financial documents, family histories, public statements, published documents, voting records, campaign experience and social media postings. Tony West, a former associate attorney general under Holder who is Harris’ brother-in-law, is also playing a central role in the search.
CNN has also learned that Democratic pollsters have been asked to test how Harris and any of the prospective candidates would fare in their home states – and key battlegrounds – in hypothetical matchups against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman who often serves as a sounding board for Harris, is also playing an unofficial role in the search, people familiar with the process say, along with other top advisers to Harris.
The truncated process means that nearly four years after Harris answered the call from Joe Biden to be his running mate – on August 11, 2020 – she intends to make a call of her own, asking one of the men on the list to join her Democratic ticket.
A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS showed no clear leader in a matchup between Harris and Trump. The former president holds 49% support among registered voters nationwide to Harris’ 46%, a finding within the survey’s margin of sampling error. Still, that was a closer contest than earlier CNN polling this year had found about a Biden-Trump matchup.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel on Wednesday adopted the rules the party will use to?choose their presidential nominee, with voting to officially nominate Harris?likely to begin August 1. The party has said its goal is to nominate its presidential and vice presidential candidates by August 7.