Will Gov. Andy Beshear be VP to the VP?

Beshear has been making the rounds on the television circuit, potentially trying out to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Harris, who has gathered enough delegate endorsements to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, still has to decide who will be at her side during the next four months of campaigning.

According to CNN, the Harris campaign asked for vetting materials from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Despite being a major player in the veepstakes conversation the past several days, Beshear said he had not been asked to submit information.

In the outside chance Beshear’s name re-emerges for VP, how would he measure up?

What would (and wouldn’t) Beshear bring to a ticket?

Presidential nominees typically choose their vice president based on their chemistry, but there are other considerations on paper, said Dr. Steven Voss, University of Kentucky political science associate professor.

Beshear doesn’t come from a swing state, while most of his assumed competition does.

Voss said that people may overestimate how much that matters.

“While pundits act as though a VP pick can swing the home state, statistically speaking, we have no evidence of a friends and neighbors bounce for VP picks,” Voss said.

What matters more, he said, is the message a campaign sends with its pick, particularly to less politically-informed swing voters.

“While Beshear is very unlikely to swing Kentucky far enough that it would vote for Harris, he would help her appeal to similar areas in states that are up for grabs, such as central Pennsylvania and places with rural and small town areas where Beshear’s personality and record could be used for campaigning purposes,” Voss said.

Jake Cox, a Kentucky GOP operative, said that Beshear brings nothing to the table politically, besides a “milquetoast personality and relative obscurity across the nation.”

Cox said that Cooper, Shapiro and Kelly have more political substance.

“They all have interesting, unique stories to propel them to higher office particularly given the battles that they’ve had with their legislature where they’ve seen progressive results, not just positive bipartisan results,” he said. “And I think that’s a serious contrast that Gov. Beshear has to address.”

As a woman of color from the West Coast, Harris may be looking for a “white man who seems very non-threatening,” a Kentucky Democratic activist who wished to remain nameless said.

Beshear fits that description. He also appears to represent a growing sentiment among Americans tired of partisanship.

“I think the left-right dichotomy has really kind of worn out its welcome in the past 20-30 years, and people don’t really think in those terms anymore,” the activist said. “… I think that Andy Beshear is quite a bit different than that.”

Voss said the question may be less about what Beshear adds to the ticket and more about what the other options may cost the Democratic Party if chosen.

Kelly has a key Senate seat in Arizona the party may not want to risk losing, Cooper has a Republican lieutenant governor who could take over if he were in the White House and Shapiro is a “rising star governing a key state,” Voss said.

Beshear’s candidacy would leave behind a Democrat to run Kentucky, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, and would likely not hurt his career, Voss said.

Michon Lindstrom, spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, said Coleman would serve as acting governor for the remainder of the term if Beshear left.

Who is Andy Beshear? What outsiders should know

Beshear is part of a political dynasty in Kentucky, as son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, said Kentucky journalist Al Cross.

The younger Beshear was elected as attorney general in 2015 before winning the governor’s office in 2019 by about 5,000 votes against highly unpopular Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin.

He was re-elected last year by a five-point margin against Trump- and McConnell-backed Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

While name recognition and luck against weaker candidates have helped the Beshears, Cross said Beshear proved himself in the 2023 gubernatorial election.

“He had earned the respect and the approval of voters during the pandemic in a way that was pretty much unshakable,” Cross said. “The disasters and his handling of them just reinforced the approval that he developed during the pandemic.”

Voss said Beshear’s approach to these natural disasters – 2021 tornadoes in western Kentucky and 2022 flooding in eastern Kentucky – positioned him to “sell a record of a government that helps.”

That experience may boost his credibility as a unity candidate to new voters, he said.

People now learning about Beshear should also know about some of his controversies, Cox said.

There are questions about Beshear’s connections to Purdue Pharma, an opioid manufacturer, Cox said. Before becoming attorney general and fighting against opioid manufacturers, Beshear was a partner at States & Harrison, a firm that represented Purdue Pharma and obtained a settlement for the company.

Beshear has benefitted from luck and nepotism, Cox said, but has “no real accomplishments” he can credit as his own.

Beshear has a contentious relationship with the supermajority Republican legislature. Cox said he often takes credit for legislative policies and his administration has overseen scandals within a few state agencies, like the Department of Juvenile Justice.