Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has become the odds-on favorite to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate for the 2024 election. Shapiro soared to the top of the odds tables when news came out on Tuesday that Harris and her running mate will hold a joint rally in Philadelphia next week to kick off a campaign tour.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Governor of Pennsylvania. It all adds up, according to bettors and sportsbooks.
Shapiro is now at -325 at BetUS to be the Democratic VP nominee, while Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is second at a distant +300. Just a week ago, Kelly led at +100, while Shapiro was next at +300.
On betting exchange PredictIt, Shapiro is trading at $0.72 at the time of this writing. Kelly and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear are tied for second, way behind at $0.11. Last week, Kelly was the leader at $0.32 and Shapiro was trading at $0.20.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg are the other top contenders. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced this week that he is withdrawing from consideration.
Philadelphia was “chosen in a vacuum”
Alex Seitz-Wald, Senior Digital Politics Reporter for NBC News, noted on X that a source said that Philadelphia was “chosen in a vacuum,” so people shouldn’t necessarily read into it. Political expert and senior advisor for Mitt Romney’s 2012 US presidential campaign Kevin Madden also posted that none of the last seven major party presidential candidates before this year introduced their VP partner in the running mate’s home state.