Washington, DC — Until last night, there were three former Democratic Attorneys General on the shortlist for Vice President Kamala Harris’s potential running mate. There are still two in the running, and given the fact that VP Harris is a former Democratic AG herself, that could mean there could be not one, but two former Democratic AGs in the White House. 

Democratic Attorneys General Association President Sean Rankin spoke with POLITICO’s Madison Fernandez last week about the importance of having a former Democratic AG at the top of the ticket. As Rankin shared with Fernandez for Friday’s POLITICO Morning Score, “‘AGs are the bench of the party,’ Rankin said. ‘I think with Vice President Harris at the top of the presidential ticket, it makes it easier for people in the party, for donors, for strategic partners to really recognize it. It’s in the spotlight, and it’s a big part of her message.’”

Score continues, “In a presidential election year, it’s easy for down-ballot races to get overlooked. But two of the most competitive attorney general races — North Carolina, where incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein is running for governor, and Pennsylvania, where Democratic Attorney General Michelle Henry, who was appointed to the post after Shapiro won the gubernatorial election in 2022, is not running for a full term — line up with states that Democrats are counting on to bring them the presidency, giving these races ‘new energy,’ Rankin said.”

Rankin shares, “‘For AGs, they are developed in a crucible. The work they do every day is incredibly difficult, and it just doesn’t actually get the attention that it deserves. … They are talented and capable. They’ve been tested. It’s just they’re not often tested in the public spotlight, they don’t get that extra level of appreciation.’”

Rankin concludes, “‘And I do hope that one of the things we see over the next 100 days is, as the ticket gets decided, as the vice presidential nominee is chosen, if it is a former Democratic AG, that it goes into everybody’s story: two former Democratic AGs are on the ticket.’”

The New York Times’ Katie Glueck also highlighted VP Harris’ role as a former Democratic AG, and her relationships with the other former Democratic AGs she has been considering as her running mate.

Glueck writes, “When President Biden introduced Kamala Harris as his running mate four years ago, he shared their origin story: He had first learned of her, he said, through his son Beau, who served with her as a state attorney general. ‘I know how much Beau respected Kamala and her work,’ Mr. Biden said of his son, who died in 2015 and was Delaware’s attorney general when Ms. Harris held the same job in California. ‘That mattered a lot to me, to be honest with you, as I made this decision.’”

The story continues, “Now it is Vice President Harris who is deciding on a running mate. And as she leans into her law enforcement background, with Democrats framing the race against former President Donald J. Trump as a choice between a prosecutor and a felon, the path to the Democratic ticket may again run through a class of ambitious former attorneys general who came up alongside her.” 

“Interviews with more than a dozen people who worked with Ms. Harris and those men at the time offer a window into her relationships with these possible running mates, and a snapshot of what each might bring — a steady, seasoned hand; political potency in an essential battleground state; or proven appeal in conservative territory. All would offer “balance” to the ticket along the lines of geography, ideology and executive experience.”

“These three men have also proved their ability to work in a way ‘that would benefit not only members of their party, but all of the residents in their states,’ said Karl Racine, the former attorney general of Washington, D.C., who helped lead the Democratic Attorneys General Association during Ms. Harris’s tenure. ‘It’s that unquestioned record that not only makes them attractive,’ he said, ‘but demonstrates how they might contribute to a ticket.’”

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