Whitmer met with Biden days before VP announcement: report

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) met with Joe Biden in Delaware last weekend as the former vice president nears a decision on his running mate.

Whitmer visited Biden on Sunday, two high-ranking Michigan Democrats told The Associated Press. Biden has said in the past that he’s considering Whitmer to be his No. 2 on the Democratic ticket. 

Biden has said he will announce his running mate in the early weeks of August. The former vice president has already vowed to pick a woman, though nearly a dozen names have been floated as possible picks. 

He’s also come under pressure to pick a Black woman in light of national protests over systemic racism and as a way to honor the role African American voters played in boosting his White House campaign in the primary. 

Among the contenders known to be under consideration are Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Val Demings (D-Fla.), and former national security adviser Susan Rice.

While Whitmer is not a woman of color, she does represent a crucial swing state. She also established a relationship with Biden when he campaigned with her during her successful gubernatorial bid in 2018.

If Whitmer stepped down to join Biden’s ticket, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist (D) would succeed her and become the country’s only Black governor.