Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that he has not received vetting material that would come as a potential running mate to Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Pritzker is one of several blue state or battleground governors who has been linked to Harris as a possible vice presidential candidate. Pritzker endorsed Harris on Monday.
However, in an interview with MSNBC, Pritzker simply said "no" when asked about vetting materials and demurred when asked if he'd like to be a vice-presidential candidate.
"I love being the governor of the state of Illinois, and I've been out on the campaign trail fighting hard for Democrats to win," he said. "It's important to me that we win across the board and all across the United States. So I'm gonna continue to do that. And I'm very interested in making sure that Kamala Harris becomes the next president of the United States."
CNN reported Monday that a few battleground Democrat governors — Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — did receive vetting materials along with border state Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky have also been linked to Harris as possible running mates.
Multiple Democrat operatives point to Cooper, who is term-limited, as someone who could boost the ticket. They noted that former President Donald Trump won North Carolina by just 74,483 votes in 2020. In 2016, Trump won the state by 173,315 votes.
CNN reported 10 people are being vetted, adding that former Attorney General Eric Holder's law firm is running the vetting process.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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