Shapiro, Kelly, Beshear, Buttigieg, Pritzker: Why Walz beat them all, and what comes next.

Kamala Harris has completed what is likely the fastest vice-presidential vetting process in modern history, naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and crossing off a host of would-be contenders who may yet have a role to play in her administration if she wins in November.

The 16-day sprint to vet and select a candidate — which began when President Joe Biden exited the race and the party coalesced behind Harris — appeared to come down to Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

But in the end, the choice was Walz.

"There may have been an experience factor," said Robert Speel, professor of political science at Penn State's Behrend campus in Erie, Pennsylvania. "Walz not only has served as governor for six years, but he also served in Congress for many years before that. He also was an officer in the Army National Guard and served for a couple of decades. Tim Walz certainly has an impressive resume, which may have given him a boost over Shapiro."

Even so, the selection process kept everyone guessing right up to the end, as Harris also considered players such as Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Ultimately, Harris’ pick reflects the campaign’s desire to shore up its support in key Midwestern states, experts said. Walz has shown an ability to relate to blue-collar Democrats, while at the same time endearing himself to the progressive left.

And by launching the Democrats’ latest offensive against “weird” Republicans, Walz has proven he’s an effective messenger for the party.

Experts said those who were in consideration for the VP spot are likely to see a boost in attention following the vetting process, even though they didn’t get the nod.

“To be in the VP selection process, it’s an indication that you’re thought of as somebody who’s ready for the national stage,” said Joel Goldstein, a retired constitutional law professor at St. Louis University who has written two books on the vice presidency.

Here’s a look at likely reasons why those candidates were passed over — and where they may be headed next.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s candidacy faced opposition on multiple fronts

A moderate Democrat who many considered a frontrunner for the VP spot, Shapiro would have added an ideological balance to the ticket while also helping Harris claim victory in a must-win battleground state.

His candidacy, however, faced opposition on multiple fronts.

The 51-year-old governor's support for private-school vouchers, a Republican legislative priority in states across the country, prompted a group of nearly 30 public-school advocacy groups, all based in battleground states, to sign a letter to Harris last month urging her to pick a different running mate.

They said "the battle lines have been drawn, and full support for public education must be nonnegotiable" in a VP choice.

In 2023, Shapiro had a handshake deal with Republicans to back a $100 million budget proposal to use public funds to send students to private schools, but pressure from fellow Democrats, teachers' unions and education groups forced him to abandon the plan.

Also haunting Shapiro were questions about what he knew about sexual harassment claims involving a former Cabinet member.

Last fall, Shapiro's office quietly settled for $295,000 a claim that a longtime ally had made numerous sexual advances toward a subordinate, as well as lewd comments about the subordinate, other female staffers and a female state senator, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Shapiro has also divided Democrats in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants, rankling progressives and Arab-American and Muslim populations.

Shapiro, who is Jewish, has supported Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas, while also calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "one of the worst leaders of all time." But he's also refrained from calling for a cease-fire, made references to the Ku Klux Klan in discussing pro-Palestinian protesters, and raised questions about his support for free-speech rights in calling for the firing for University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill over anti-Israel campus protests.

More: Josh Shapiro's vice presidential prospects spark debate over Israel policy, antisemitism

Some Shapiro defenders have said the popular governor's position on Israel differs little from other Democratic lawmakers and that criticism of him is antisemitic.

With 19 electoral votes at stake in Pennsylvania — more than any other battleground state — some Democrats have argued Harris should do anything she can to get ahead there.

Speel, however, said running mates rarely make a difference in elections.

"That will be irrelevant," he said.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly well-positioned to help fill out a potential Cabinet

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly’s national stock soared in the past month as his party wrestled with overhauling its White House ticket.

The Arizona Democrat is an engineer and Navy combat pilot who served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He also was an astronaut who flew four shuttle missions to space when he left the Navy.

His wife is former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, who survived being shot in the head in 2011, and, together, they founded an organization that bears her name and pursues gun safety measures.

More: A call from England and two hectic weeks: Behind the scenes of Mark Kelly's frantic VP run

One of the things that made Kelly, 60, so appealing to the Harris campaign is his tough rhetoric about the nation’s southern border. Kelly has called the conditions there a “crisis” and “a challenging problem.”

That same rhetoric could make him attractive if Harris wants to set a new tone on the border.

If she’s elected, Harris could also look to Kelly, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for some position in the Pentagon or as secretary of Defense.

Kelly has also repeatedly met with foreign officials, including twice with the president of Taiwan, and with the president of Mexico, the president-elect of Mexico and the new prime minister of the United Kingdom. He also traveled to war-torn Ukraine and Israel to meet with the president and prime minister respectively.

Looming over all the possibilities is Kelly’s Senate term.

He won reelection in 2022, and his term doesn’t end until after the 2028 elections. If Kelly joins a Harris administration, it would force Arizona to hold a special election for his seat in 2026, a potentially risky option in the purple state.

The fact that Kelly was a finalist, and the only senator in the mix by that point, is a sign of how seriously the Harris camp saw him, Goldstein said.

“From his standpoint, while the outcome may be temporarily disappointing, it certainly gives him a louder and enhanced voice within the party and in the nation,” he said.

Location, lack of notoriety may have worked against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear quickly hit the campaign trail to tout Harris’ message after she replaced Biden atop the ticket. And he positioned himself as a foil to JD Vance, Trump’s running mate.

Beshear, a moderate, and the lone Democrat to hold a state office in Kentucky, repeatedly needled the author-turned-U.S. senator in media appearances in recent weeks, questioning his blue-collar credentials and his credibility in Appalachia.

But location matters, particularly in this election expected to be decided in a handful of key battleground states.

While Beshear is popular in the Bluegrass State, it’d take much more than his presence atop the Democratic ticket to flip Kentucky from Trump. The former president won the state with more than 62% of the vote in 2020.

Beshear is also a relative newcomer to the national stage.

He grew his popularity during the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting televised daily briefings, which comforted many and helped him build significant bipartisan support across Kentucky.

But those TV briefings only were shown in Kentucky. In a Reuters poll last month, 70% of Democrats polled across the nation said they hadn’t heard of Beshear.

Walz, meanwhile, built a national profile with six terms in U.S. Congress before winning the governor’s office in Minnesota in 2018.

Still, Beshear has shown he’s a skilled politician, winning office twice as a Democrat in deep-red Kentucky. He previously served as the state’s attorney general from 2015 through 2019 and could remain on the radar for Harris' Cabinet ― if he's willing.

Pete Buttigieg has been under scrutiny as a Joe Biden appointee

Pete Buttigieg, 42, made history in 2021 as the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary, overseeing the Department of Transportation.

He previously served as a naval officer, and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was once seen as a top alternative to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race, and has gained popularity through viral cable news appearances.

“Buttigieg has a couple of issues,” said James Riddlesperger, a professor of political science at Texas Christian University. “He is not currently holding elective office and has only been elected as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. As a result, he has less electoral experience than others. And as popular a choice as he is, Indiana is not a key state in the election.”

Goldstein, the vice presidential scholar at St. Louis University, said it also may be significant that Buttigieg is the only person from the Biden-Harris administration who Harris appears to have vetted.

A challenge for any vice president running for president is to “distinguish himself or herself from the prior administration,” he said.

“Vice President Harris has done a remarkable job in establishing a distinct identity as the new Democratic leader in the very short time since President Biden announced that he would not seek re-election,” Goldstein said. “But she may have felt it important to choose someone who supported but was not associated with the administration.”

Buttigieg has been under scrutiny by Republicans for the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; flight delays during the holidays; and antiquated technology used by the air travel industry, among other issues.

Democrats may also have shied away from adding an openly gay man to a ticket that also includes the nation’s first Black woman presidential nominee.

“He could remain in the cabinet in a Harris administration — either continuing as transportation secretary or moving to a higher profile position,” Riddlesperger said.

Optics probably played against Gov. JB Pritzker, billionaire hotel heir

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker would have brought a track record chock full of Democratic legislative priorities — and significant personal financial benefits — to the ticket.

Pritzker, 59, has signed legislation raising the state minimum wage, legalized recreational cannabis, banned the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons and ended the cash bail system. And as an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, Pritzker is estimated to be worth more than $3 billion, a huge asset to a presidential campaign.

However, Kent Redfield, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said the governor’s wealth actually could have been one of the reasons he was passed up.

He noted that Democrats may not like the contrast Pritzker’s wealth creates with Vance, who rose to prominence after writing about growing up in poverty in his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

“If you’re going for appeal to the working man, that kind of optic probably worked against him,” Redfield said.

Walz, Redfield said, was also likely seen as a safer option when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war. Pritzker, like Shapiro, is Jewish and has said Illinois “unequivocally stands” with Israel. The state has also purchased $30 million in Israeli bonds since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Pritzker told reporters Tuesday his immediate focus is continuing to serve as governor.

“I really do love the job,” he said.

Roy Cooper, taking himself out of the ‘veepstakes’ race, could be eyeing other positions

Democrats eyeing North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper as a possible VP pick touted his prominence in a critical battleground state and his history of electoral success in a state that often goes red.

Cooper, 67, can’t run again for governor because of term limits, and he was quickly identified as a top running mate candidate.

But the popular governor may have his eye on a U.S. Senate race rather than the White House. Some consider him to be North Carolina Democrats’ top choice to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in 2026.

“That to me, the Senate race, feels like the major goal and the focus of what he's trying to accomplish,” said Mike Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

As others appeared to be auditioning for the VP role on the trail and on cable news, Cooper took himself out of the running last month. Cooper said he communicated his position “early in the process” to Harris’ team.

“This just wasn’t the right time for N.C. and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a July 29 social media post.

Democrats weren’t ready to test a two-woman ticket with Gretchen Whitmer

While Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was once reportedly in the mix of potential Harris running mates, she said she never received a request for vetting materials from the campaign and didn’t want the job.

The day after Biden announced his decision to bow out of the presidential race, Whitmer told a reporter she wasn’t planning to leave Michigan, ruling out the vice presidency and indicating a Washington, D.C.-based Cabinet position wouldn’t be in the cards either.

Michigan-based political consultant Abby Clark, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said that, as a Democrat and a feminist, she’s comfortable with Harris’ decision to provide some gender balance to the ticket with a male running mate.

“We have a glass ceiling when it comes to the presidency that’s yet to be broken,” she said.

Many Democrats felt that two women on the ticket was probably too risky, she said.

By taking herself out of the mix of potential running mates, Whitmer avoided coming under intense scrutiny that could affect her future political ambitions.

“There’s no way you want to go through all that and find out who your enemies are inside your own party if you don’t have a real shot at it,” said John Sellek, the CEO of Michigan-based Harbor Strategic Public Affairs who previously worked for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

At 52, Whitmer — who rose to prominence with her 2018 gubernatorial victory fueled by her pledge to “fix the damn roads” — still has plenty of miles to travel in her career, Sellek said.

“This is not a sad occasion for her,” he said. “She’s got a lot of freeway in front of her.”

USA TODAY network reporters Samantha Woodward and Stephanie Murray contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Why Walz beat Shapiro, Kelly, Beshear, and where they could land next