Former Vice President Kamala Harris reveals in an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir that Pete Buttigieg was her "first choice" to be the running mate in last year’s presidential bid, but she concluded the pairing would have been too big a risk for the country’s political moment. She ultimately selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, and the ticket went on to lose to Donald Trump and JD Vance in November.
Harris writes that Buttigieg initially led the eight-name vetting list for running mates, describing him as a sincere public servant with the rare talent of framing liberal arguments in a way that makes them palatable to conservatives. She reportedly wrote, "I love Pete. I love working with Pete. He and his husband, Chasten, are friends." She also acknowledged the national calculus: "But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man."
Even with those strengths, Harris wrote that the decision hinged on broader national readiness. The excerpt notes that Buttigieg’s appeal and rapport with Harris could have helped with some voters, but it also carried risk in a political climate that had yet to fully accept a Black woman as a leading partner on a major national ticket. The notes say both Harris and Buttigieg were running for president in 2020, with Biden ultimately securing the Democratic nomination.
Harris ultimately named Walz as the vice-presidential nominee. The pairing did not prevail in the general election, losing to Trump and Vance in November.
107 Days, the memoir described by Simon & Schuster as offering an unfiltered look at the pressures, triumphs, and heartbreaks of a history-defining race, is set to be released Sept. 23. The publisher markets the work as providing a candid account of one of the most scrutinized campaigns in American history.
Fox News Digital reached Buttigieg’s representatives for comment on Harris’s disclosures.
These disclosures offer a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the strategic calculations and personal considerations that shaped a high-stakes national campaign, underscoring how identity, timing, and political risk intersected in a race that defined an era in U.S. politics.