Even governors have to provide references if they want to be Joe Biden’s running mate.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has reportedly asked potential running mates to provide references as the vice presidential selection committee starts its formal vetting process, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, the first tangible sign of the committee making moves to determine Biden’s pick.
The first known contender to be asked for those references is New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, per an anonymous individual with knowledge of the request in the report. It did not report any other women on Biden’s vice presidential consideration list who received such a request.
Lujan Grisham has told her allies in recent days that Biden’s team had begun vetting her to be his running mate, Politico reported on Tuesday.
While Biden has committed to picking a woman as his running mate, some hope that he brings even more demographic diversity to the ticket by choosing a woman of color. Supporters of picking the first-term governor or Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, whom former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing as a running mate pick, hope that having a Latina on the ticket could boost Biden’s appeal among Hispanic and Latino voters, a demographic that he failed to capture decisively in the Democratic presidential primary cycle.
Lujan Grisham, 60, represented New Mexico’s first congressional district in the House from 2013 to 2018 before becoming governor.
Biden, 77, has said that he is considering “more than a dozen women” in his running mate search, including “more than one black woman.” He says that he is looking for someone capable of being president in case he dies while in office and who is “simpatico” with him on policy.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Tuesday that she had a “conversation” with the Biden campaign about being his running mate but clarified that it was “just an opening conversation, and it’s not something that I would call a professional, formalized vetting.”
Other rumored vice presidential contenders include Florida Rep. Val Demings, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and former Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Kamala Harris of California.
