Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed in an excerpt of her upcoming book that she would have chosen former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as her 2024 running mate if she were not a “black woman married to a Jewish man.”
Harris’s comments suggest Democratic voters wouldn’t want to support a presidential ticket featuring a black woman and a gay man.
Buttigieg “would have been an ideal partner—if I were a straight white man,” she wrote. “But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, Screw it, let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk.”
“And I think Pete also knew that—to our mutual sadness,” she added.
Harris’s political memoir, 107 Days, set for release on Sept. 23, is said to shed light on behind-the-scenes moments during her short-lived presidential campaign. The latest excerpt was published by the Atlantic on Wednesday night.
Harris took up the Democratic Party’s nomination last year after then-President Joe Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race, leaving little time for his successor to appeal to voters. In a previous excerpt, also released by the Atlantic, she revealed how Biden’s White House team had little confidence in her public skills, making her 2024 run all the more challenging.
“They had a huge comms team; they had Karine Jean-Pierre briefing in the pressroom every day,” she wrote. “But getting anything positive said about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible.”
Buttigieg was floated as a possible running mate, citing his young age as a reason. Concerned about Biden’s deteriorating mental health at the time, the Democratic Party wanted to go with younger candidates who could fit its message about generational change. Harris is 60, and Buttigieg is 43.
In her book, the former Democratic nominee said she was aware that she was about to “cause the same sudden swerve in someone else’s life” after reflecting on the time she was selected as Biden’s running mate in 2020. The passage suggests she didn’t want to do that to Buttigieg, with whom she and her Jewish husband Doug Emhoff were close.
“I love Pete,” she wrote. “I love working with Pete. He and his husband, Chasten, are friends.”
Harris instead settled for Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), 61, as her running mate. The two ultimately lost to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Walz is now seeking reelection for a third term as Minnesota governor next year, while Buttigieg is weighing a possible 2028 presidential campaign. Harris may also seek the top spot in the White House again after announcing in July that she would not run for California governor in 2026.
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While she hasn’t confirmed a 2028 bid, her new book may be seen as a stepping stone toward a possible campaign.
Harris is scheduled to visit 15 cities for her book tour, starting in New York City the day after the book’s release next week. Most of Harris’s tour stops are in the United States, but there will also be one stop each in England and Canada this fall.