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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker was contacted by Kamala Harris' presidential campaign on Wednesday to discuss whether he could be her 2024 running mate, according to a local newspaper.
The claim was made by The Chicago Sun-Times, citing an anonymous source. Wednesday also saw Pritzker tell CNN's Jake Tapper it would be "hard to resist a call" if he were asked to be Harris' vice-presidential pick.
Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential contest on Sunday amid concern over the 81-year-old's age and mental capacity to serve another four years in the White House. Biden endorsed Harris, who swiftly established herself as the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, sparking widespread speculation about her potential running mate.
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During his interview with Tapper, Pritzker declined to comment on whether the Harris campaign had asked him to submit paperwork so he could be vetted as a potential vice-presidential pick, commenting: "I'm not going to talk about any private conversations I've had."
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However, he didn't deny being open to the position when asked, commenting: "I love being governor of Illinois, the people of Illinois have graced me with that title for the last two elections and I'd be reluctant to make a change, but it would be hard to resist a call and consideration if the nominee called me to ask to be considered for vice president."
Newsweek contacted a representative of Kamala Harris and Pritzker's press office for comment on Thursday via email outside of regular business hours.
During his CNN interview, Pritzker claimed Harris becoming his party's presumptive presidential candidate had energized Democratic supporters over the past few days.
He said: "I think the palpable excitement and honestly I've had I don't know hundreds of calls in the last three days. People are really genuinely psyched and ready to go. That's very different. There was a lot of uncertainty in the last month or two, a lot of attacks that we were feeling I think the pressure of and now we've got Kamala Harris who just brings this get up and go sort of energy. Young people really excited."
On Wednesday, MSNBC reported that Harris' team had contacted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly asking them to send over materials to be vetted as her possible pick.
Other widely discussed potential candidates include Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
Interviews with 251 of the more than 3,000 delegates who will vote in the Democratic Party presidential nominating process by The New York Times found Governor Shapiro was the most popular potential vice-presidential pick.
Shapiro led the race with the support of 40 delegates, ahead of Kelly in second place with 28 delegates.
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