Former US Vice President Kamala Harris has defended her decision to choose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over Pete Buttigieg as her running mate during her 2024 presidential campaign, despite calling Buttigieg her “first choice”.
Promoting her memoir 107 Days, Harris detailed the whirlwind period after President Joe Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race just four months before election day, leaving Harris with little time to build a campaign.
In an excerpt shared by The Atlantic, Harris wrote candidly about her selection process. Though she held Buttigieg in high regard and believed he would have been an “ideal partner,” she ultimately believed his inclusion on the ticket — as an openly gay man — would have presented an electoral risk in such a heated race.
“We were already asking a lot of America,” Harris wrote. “To accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, ‘Screw it, let’s just do it.’ But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk.”
“It Made Me Very Sad”
Speaking with Rachel Maddow, Harris was asked about her admission in the book that it was “hard to hear” that Buttigieg couldn’t be selected due to his sexuality.
Harris responded:
“My point is, in one of the most hotly contested elections — against someone like Donald Trump, who knows no floor — to be a Black woman running for president with a gay man as vice-president… it made me very sad, but I realised it would be a real risk.”
She was quick to add that the decision wasn’t based on prejudice, but on political calculation. Still, she acknowledged:
“Maybe I was being too cautious.”
Praise for Mayor Pete
Despite the decision, Harris called Buttigieg a “phenomenal public servant,” highlighting his unique ability to resonate with conservative voters. Buttigieg, who is raising two children with his husband, Chasten, currently serves as Secretary of Transportation and remains a prominent figure in Democratic politics.
In a recent interview with Politico, Buttigieg responded graciously to Harris’s comments:
“The way you earn trust with voters is mostly about what they think you’re going to do for their lives. Politics is about results, not categories.”
Eyes on 2028
A July poll placed Buttigieg as the favourite Democratic nominee for the 2028 presidential election, positioning him as a strong contender to lead the party into the next race.
As debates continue about representation, risk, and electability, Harris’s candid reflections offer rare insight into the realpolitik behind modern campaign decisions — and highlight the ongoing challenge for LGBTQ+ leaders in national politics.
