Vance emerges as Trump’s VP pick, with Rubio and Burgum out

Editor’s note: Shortly after this story was published, Donald Trump announced JD Vance would be his running mate.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has emerged as the front-runner to be Trump’s running mate.

Sources had for weeks said Vance, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum were the finalists for the job. But Rubio and Burgum were both told Monday they were not the pick.

Trump is expected to announce the long-awaited vice presidential pick Monday afternoon, as the Republican National Committee kicks off its convention in Milwaukee.

A GOP official confirmed to The Hill earlier that the former president has officially decided whom his No. 2 will be, and Trump himself told Fox News’s Bret Baier in a phone interview Monday morning that he would announce his running mate later in the day.

Trump’s running mate will make an in-person appearance at 4:37 p.m. EDT, at the beginning of the vice presidential nomination process, a source familiar with the proceedings told The Hill.

Donald Trump Jr. has advocated for Vance, who was a fierce Trump critic in 2016 but has since become a fierce ally of the former president.

A Vance spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump has also named Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as a potential choice. Other dark horse contenders include Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

Trump’s official announcement of his running mate will put a bookend on the long-running speculation over who his No. 2 would be, which became a parlor game in Washington following his public break with former Vice President Mike Pence.

The question of his No. 2, however, took on increased significance over the weekend, after the assassination attempt on Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania. Trump said a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear, which left him bloodied.