Richard Lugar, Dan Quayle, Evan Bayh and Mike Pence have played in the quadrennial presidential veepstakes. Now it’s former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s turn.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris has earned enough support from delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden stepped away on Sunday, the U.S. Department of Transportation secretary has made the cable talk show rounds for the veepstakes.
Buttigieg has been included on numerous media shortlists that are heavy on the Midwest side, with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear coming into focus, as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly.
Asked whether he would accept a vice presidential nomination, Buttigieg said of Harris on Monday on MSNBC: “She’s going to make that decision based on what’s best for the country. I will do everything in my power to make sure she’s the next president.”
Asked about Republican nominee JD Vance talking about “childless” figures dominating the Democratic Party, Buttigieg told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “The really sad thing is, he said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey.” The transportation secretary now has twins with his husband, Chasten.
“He couldn’t have known that, but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children,” Buttigieg said of Vance.
Buttigieg observed that Vance once referred to Trump as “cultural heroin” in a 2016 article for The Atlantic titled “Opioid of the Masses.”
“Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it,” Vance wrote in the article.
“He called him an opioid, which is kind of a weird thing to call a person,” Buttigieg said on “Real Time With Bill Maher” on Friday night. “But for someone whose identity is connected to Appalachia, which has an opioid crisis, that really is the darkest thing you can possibly say about Donald Trump.”
In rounding up the current veepstakes field, The Atlantic observed of Buttigieg: “The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor is perhaps one of the most qualified candidates to be VP. A military veteran from the Midwest with experience campaigning on a national scale, he’s held a top post in the Biden administration. In addition, he’s a solid defender of his party’s agenda, and has demonstrated a talent for tangling with conservatives on TV.
“So Buttigieg is battle-tested — but he’s also gay, [David] Axelrod [a former adviser to President Barack Obama] noted, asking: ‘Is that too much diversity on the ticket?’”
Howey Politics Indiana’s take: Our money bet is a Harris-Shapiro ticket. The 51-year-old Pennsylvania governor could bring a 19-Electoral College vote state into the Democratic fold, which is crucial. As a young governor, he fits the generational torch-passing. As a Jewish governor, Shapiro and Harris could tag-team the Gaza crisis that threatened to split the party coalition, particularly in Michigan. And he defeated a Trump-endorsed opponent in 2022 by a 15% plurality.
“He would give you, maybe, the most help in winning the most important state,” Axelrod told The Atlantic. “Generally, if you win Pennsylvania, you do well in the other Midwest industrial states.”
Having said that, Buttigieg could be a crucial messenger whether he’s on the ticket or not, particularly on Fox News, where he has a track record.
Harris makes Indianapolis address
Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told a gathering of women of color in Indianapolis on Wednesday that she is fighting for America’s future. She contrasted her vision with another — one she said is “focused on the past.”
“Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights — the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to live without fear of bigotry and hate, the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride, the freedom to learn and acknowledge our true and full history and the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body,” she said.
Harris delivered her Wednesday remarks during Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s 2024 Grand Boulé, a six-day conference held at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The event was closed to the public.
Her approximately 15-minute speech received a standing ovation from thousands of women of color. Founded in 1920 on Howard University’s campus, the sorority is one of nine historically Black Greek-letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, colloquially known as the Divine Nine.
“Where Vice President Harris goes, grassroots enthusiasm follows,” campaign chair Jen Dillon wrote in a memo released Wednesday. “This campaign will be close, it will be hard fought, but Vice President Harris is in a position of strength — and she’s going to win.”
Read the full story by State Affairs Statehouse reporter Jarred Meeks here.
Vance raises $1M in Fort Wayne, GOP donor says
Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance visited Fort Wayne Wednesday. The closed-door event happened at Fort Wayne International Airport with a select group of donors and supporters in attendance. Bill Bean, the organizer of the event and a longtime GOP donor, told WANE 15 he believes Vance’s visit raised nearly $1 million toward his campaign.
Allen County Republican Chairman Steve Shine said, “Right out of the gate out of the Republican convention in Milwaukee last week, JD Vance committed to coming to Fort Wayne because he knows that Fort Wayne is a very loyal, Republican base and there’s a lot of support here for [him] and President Trump.”
Indiana delegation backs Harris
Indiana’s Democratic National Convention delegation on Monday unanimously voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy, the state party said.
Indiana’s 88 delegates, originally pledged to President Joe Biden, are unbound to any specific candidate after he announced Sunday he was leaving the race.
The delegation supported Harris “so that she can continue the legacy of unprecedented job growth, historically low unemployment, and fighting for reproductive freedom in all 50 states,” Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl said in a news release.
The party also announced Monday that former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly will serve as the state’s delegation chair at the convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Read the full story by State Affairs Statehouse reporter Jarred Meeks here.
RFK Jr. on ballot
Indiana voters will see independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on their presidential election ballot, but not Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
State election officials have certified that Kennedy’s campaign submitted more than the nearly 37,000 petition signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
The State Election Division told State Affairs Monday that Stein’s campaign fell about 12,000 signatures short as the Green Party continues fighting Indiana’s ballot-access law in a federal lawsuit filed two years ago.
Read the full story by State Affairs senior Statehouse reporter Tom Davies here.
Parties
Ryan to keynote French Lick
Hoosier Democrats will welcome fellow Midwesterner and former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan to French Lick, Indiana, next week to keynote the annual Lee H. Hamilton Dinner and fire up Democrats across our state. Arguably nobody knows Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick JD Vance better than Tim Ryan. Ryan took on Vance in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Ohio and was the best-performing Democratic nominee in the state that cycle.
“Known for his passionate service and advocacy for hard-working families, Tim’s leadership in Congress helped transform the economic and cultural landscape of Northeast Ohio after years of disinvestment and neglect. Indiana and Ohio share a common Midwest experience and we welcome Tim’s insight as Hoosier Democrats work to bring needed change to our own state after years of being left behind by Republican administrations,” Indiana Ninth District Democratic Party Chair Adam Dickey said in a statement.
Morales joins election integrity bid
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales joined other Republicans secretaries to voice “concern” about efforts to “restore voter confidence in the election process.”
In a statement issued during the Republican National Convention last week, the secretaries emphasize the following areas of concern in an effort to restore voter confidence in the election process:
- According to the United States Constitution, the responsibility to determine the time, manner and place of state elections rests with each state’s legislature. Registration of voters, the casting of ballots and the counting of ballots must be in accordance with the laws prescribed by the respective state legislatures.
- President Biden’s Executive Order No. 14019 relating to voter registration is a classic example of federal overreach and is clearly unconstitutional. It should be rescinded immediately.
- No votes should ever be accepted or counted that are derived from outside the laws as passed by an official act of each state’s legislature.
- Only citizens of the United States should be able to register and vote in state and federal elections.
- Photo voter ID is fundamental to secure elections.
- Drop boxes for election ballots should not be used.
- Voting by mail, absentee voting, ballot harvesting, early voting, curing of ballots and other means of voting must be specifically authorized by an official act of the state legislature.
- While we focus on voter list maintenance, registrations are constantly changing. Therefore, blanket mailing of ballots to entire registration lists should not be done. Similarly, pre-populating information on, and the mass mailing of, absentee ballot requests should not be done.
- The safest and most secure way to cast a ballot is on Election Day at a polling location managed by trained poll workers from both major parties where every voter is guaranteed an opportunity to cast a ballot free of any undue influence from another person.
- All votes should have a verifiable, auditable paper trail. In the event of any discrepancy, the paper ballots should take precedence.
“We believe that these are fundamental steps to restoring confidence in our elections,” the secretaries stated.
Governor
Indiana Debate Commission event Oct. 24
The three Indiana candidates for governor have agreed to participate in a televised debate on Oct. 24 sponsored by the Indiana Debate Commission. The debate among Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater will be broadcast live from 7 to 8 p.m. EDT from the WFYI-TV public television station in Indianapolis. Commission member Laura Merrifield Wilson, a political science professor and host of WICR-FM’s “Positively Politics,” will moderate the debate.
Braun and McCormick have also agreed to debate twice in early October on WISH-TV and Fox 59/CBS 4 in Indianapolis.
“The Indiana Debate Commission looks forward to hosting a fair and informative discussion of the issues that matter most to Hoosier voters,” said Indiana Debate Commission President Elizabeth Bennion, a political scientist and longtime debate organizer who was selected last month to lead the commission. “We appreciate the candidates’ willingness to participate in a live televised debate that helps voters statewide understand the candidates’ positions and cast an informed vote.”
The commission will release a subsequent announcement soliciting questions from Hoosiers before the debate.
Large donations and more
Large donations and other activity reported this past week to the Indiana Election Division:
Mike Braun: James Brown, $10,410 (July 18).
Jennifer McCormick: Shaw Friendman, $1,000 (July 14); Aaron Warner, $5,000 (July 14); Keith Johnson, $1,000 (July 14); Michael Kruk, $1,000 (July 14); Emily Styron, $1,000 (July 14).
Micah Beckwith: Indiana Republican State Committee, $35,000 (July 22).
Terry Goodin: He filed a candidate’s statement of organization July 19.
Donald Rainwater: In his mid-year report, Rainwater listed a beginning balance of $13,120, raised $86,734, had $22,645 in expenditures and had an ending balance of $77,210. Rainwater reported a $10,000 direct contribution from Chris Rufer of California on June 28.
Congress
1st Congressional District: Niemeyer blasts Mrvan
Republican challenger Randy Niemeyer was critical of U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
“Glad to see Frank Mrvan’s Democratic Party bosses have finally given him permission to take a stand on something,” Niemeyer said in a statement. “His endorsement of Kamala Harris for President tracks with his hyperpartisan voting record. As Biden’s Vice President, Harris has been complicit in every policy failure: the border crisis, inflationary spending, projecting weakness abroad, undermining law enforcement, and showing sympathy for Hamas and anti-Semitic rioters. Harris is even more radical than Biden, making her the most extreme presidential nominee in history. She supports open borders, abolishing private health insurance, bailing out violent rioters, and banning fracking. Her presidency would be a disaster for America, and we must reject this extreme agenda and every so-called leader who would carry it out.”
Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.