Whitmer on reports Harris campaign vetting her as VP: 'I've not been asked for anything'

FLINT — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Tuesday refuted reports that Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has requested materials to vet her as a potential running mate. Whitmer said she produced similar materials in 2020 when Joe Biden considered her for the job for his own White House run that year, but received assurances the campaign didn't keep them.

Whitmer said she does not plan to cut short her second term as Michigan's Governor which ends Jan. 1, 2027. "I am not interested in doing other than this job for the next two and a half years," she told reporters after signing Michigan's education budget.

Harris' campaign has sought materials from Whitmer and other Democrats that could join Harris on the ticket, according to USA Today, which learned of the request from a source familiar with the process.

"I've not been asked for anything," Whitmer said. She hasn't "sent any documentation to anyone" either, she added, calling reports about the vetting process "inaccurate." Whitmer said she should be the only one with the materials from her vice presidential vetting by the Biden campaign four years ago, saying the campaign should have destroyed its copy.

"That's what I was told. It better have been," she said. "Not that there was anything in it," she joked.

Whitmer has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid and announced Monday that she will serve as a co-chair of the campaign. Amid speculation she was under consideration to run as Harris’ Vice President pick, Whitmer told reporters she wasn't planning to leave Michigan. Whitmer said in an interview with WXYZ Monday she looks forward to seeing who Harris selects for the role. "I think she's got a great group of people from whom to choose," she said.

In addition to Whitmer, Harris' campaign has requested vetting materials from at least six other Democrats as contenders for the party's vice presidential nomination, according to USA Today: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and former Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond.

Whitmer may be the only woman under consideration. A presidential ticket featuring two women from a major political party would be a first in U.S. history, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

Bernie Porn, the pollster for EPIC-MRA in Lansing, which the Free Press periodically commissions polls from, said it remains uncertain whether voters might respond positively to having two women on the ticket. "Although I would love to test it out," Porn said. But Whitmer's popularity would seem poised to provide a boost for Democrats running in Michigan if Harris were to select her as a running mate and Whitmer were to accept the role, he said.

Michigan has a number of competitive races beyond the presidential election.

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For instance, the state has an open U.S. Senate seat following the retirement of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and that race could decide which party controls the chamber.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who heads the operation to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate declined to weigh in on who he would like to see Harris pick as her running mate. "It's very fluid, I wouldn't want to even comment right now," he told reporters at an event at Macomb County Community College Monday.

While Harris' pick remains an open question, he predicts having Harris at the top of the ticket will help in Michigan and other battleground states. "Well, I think she’s going to run a strong campaign and that's good for everybody that’s on the ballot," he said, referring to Democrats’ electoral prospects.

Pundits and campaign operatives see Michigan as a must-win state with the road to the White House running right through it. In the immediate wake of Biden's decision to end his re-election bid, Whitmer said in a social media post that her focus this campaign cycle wouldn't change. "My job in this election will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump," she said.

USA Today contributed to this report.

Contact Clara Hendrickson atchendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter,@clarajanehen.

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