Joe Biden’s choice to drop his bid in the 2024 presidential election on Sunday reverberated across the nation—and the world. But speculation about who would replace him as the leader of the Democratic party was quickly stifled by Biden's immediate endorsement of Kamala Harris, his vice president.
While Harris will still need to formally clinch the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August, the biggest focus since Biden’s surprise announcement has been about who she would pick as her running mate on November’s ticket. The possibilities are plentiful, but there’s 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.
The VP pick gives Harris an opportunity to show what the economic policies of a Harris presidency might look like. Unlike Biden, who made “Bidenomics” his administration’s signature, Harris is better known for her advocacy around abortion and civil rights than her business stances. That’s where a vice president could potentially fill out the ticket, and why it’s worth examining the policy records of the senators and governors Harris is reportedly considering.
Fortune 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.
Mark Kelly
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’s death, serves on the Joint Economic Committee, which is responsible for reporting the economic condition of the U.S. and how to improve it.
Kelly’s business-friendly policies include:
- Creating high paying jobs, cutting taxes, and lowering costs for working families
- Boosting domestic microchip production and supporting small businesses
- Opposing Green New Deal, which would help fossil fuel companies survive
“As an Arizonan, Kelly is arguably the most pro-business candidate,” Keith Gaddie, political science professor at Texas Christian University, tells Fortune. “He doesn’t support the Green New Deal, and has advocated for loosening oil drilling regulations.” His opposition to the Green New Deal may not make him popular among all progressives, but energy companies could favor his position.
Andy Beshear
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—an attorney, who also previously served as Kentucky’s attorney general—has 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’s also been credited with instigating the “best economic growth and job creation in state history.”
Being considered as a VP candidate is still in the cards for Beshear, although he gave a vague response when asked whether he’d say yes if Harris asked: “The 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," he said, according to Axios. Although “his aggressive COVID policies got him tagged as anti-business,” TCU’s Gaddie says, Beshear has a strong pro-business record.
Beshear’s business-friendly policies:
- Secured more than 850 new business investments or existing business expansions in Kentucky, which ranks No. 2 in the country for economic development projects per capita
- Pro-union in a right-to-work state
- Allocated $900 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to target five key projects
The aforementioned DOE funds are “estimated to provide millions of additional dollars in business investment and to create thousands of energy sector and construction jobs within Kentucky,” Stacy Rosenberg, associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College for public policy, tells Fortune. “Governor Beshear’s focus on commerce as well as his popularity with conservative voters are strong selling points for him to join the Democratic ticket."
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 that the Kentucky governor was able to save hundreds of millions of dollars on Medicaid by shifting the plan away from pharmacy benefit managers.
JB Pritzker
You might recognize JB Pritzker’s name—but not necessarily for being a politician. He’s a member of the wealthy Pritzker family who owns the Hyatt hotel chain, which has a current market cap north of $15 billion.
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 “wealthy enough to self-fund,” Alvin Bernard Tillery, a political science professor at Northwestern University, told CBS News. Pritzker said while the news of Biden dropping out of the race came as a “genuine surprise,” he endorsed Harris, although he had been on unofficial shortlists for a potential presidential bid should Biden exit.
“From an experience perspective, Pritzker has the strongest resume, given his venture capital background and his family’s ownership of Hyatt,” Gaddie says. “His overall policy record is much more to the left, with a strong ‘green’ resume and backing an increased minimum wage.”
Pritzker’s business-friendly policies:
- Proponent of raising minimum wage
- Supports cutting taxes for small businesses
- Signed “landmark legislation” in 2021 steering Illinois toward 100% clean energy
However, Pritzker stands at the helm of Illinois, which is ranked only No. 15 on CNBC’s Top States for Business. “Illinois still lags surrounding states as being business friendly and lags national growth,” Gaddie says.
Roy Cooper
Roy Cooper serves as the governor of North Carolina, ranked No. 2 on CNBC’s Best States to Do Business (only beat out by Virginia), so he must be doing something right to earn that coveted spot. Cooper’s tenure “will go down as one of the best for jobs and economic growth in the state’s history,” according to Business North Carolina, 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 and major auto manufacturers, to North Carolina.
Cooper's business-friendly policies:
- Shepherded $800 million of incentives to Toyota to build manufacturing facilities in the state
- Wooed Apple to North Carolina's Research Triangle with hundreds of millions in tax breaks
- Supported Medicaid expansion in 2023
Under Cooper, North Carolina has enjoyed a streak of growth surpassing that of the US overall, with lower unemployment and higher job growth.
Cooper also supports more environmentally friendly energy production. It’s likely he’ll spend his last year in office “continuing to promote business opportunities in solar and wind energy,” said Tony Copeland, N.C. Secretary of Commerce.
Josh Shapiro
Josh Shapiro is a “fresh executive,” Gaddie says, having just taken the office of governor of Pennsylvania in January 2023. But so far, he’s “shown bipartisan tendencies including supporting school choice initiatives,” he adds. “He wants a higher minimum wage and is focused on workforce development.”
Shapiro’s business-friendly initiatives:
- In 2023, proposed raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour, but also lowering corporate income taxes from 8.99% to 4.99% by 2026
- Pro-hydrogen and has “maintained that the choice between protecting the environment and supporting the energy industry is a false dichotomy,” according to Spotlight PA
- Promised to reach net-zero emissions in Pennsylvania by 2050
Shapiro also has one of the most “clearly defined economic platforms,” Rosenberg says, since his office published a 10-year strategic plan detailing how his administration would partner with industry leaders to “foster policies that offer a more business-friendly, equitable environment” for Pennsylvania businesses. This approach could help him get the independent voters and Republicans who decide not to back Trump, Rosenberg says.
Plus, Shapiro is more popular than Biden, according to Philadelphia Magazine. “His record and platform is highly conventional for a national Democrat,” Gaddie says.
Pete Buttigieg
When “Mayor Pete” ran for president in 2020, he developed a reputation as a wonky center-left type, having worked for consulting powerhouse McKinsey 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.
In addition to cheering the Biden administration’s substantial infrastructure investments, Buttigieg has not hesitated to fine big players like Delta and American Airlines for delays. Last year, the DOT extracted a record $140 million penalty from Southwest Airlines over a weeklong scheduling meltdown the airline experienced over the 2022 holiday season.
“The 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,” says William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at AELP, who had been critical of what he called Buttigieg’s inaction in the first two years of Biden’s term.
Under Buttigieg, the DOT recently finalized two rules, 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’s tech outage that has grounded Delta flights for days.
To be sure, Buttigieg’s 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.
“In all the years I’ve been doing this, he has become the toughest enforcer we’ve seen with the airlines,” he tells Fortune. “Does 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.”
