There is a group of elected Democrats who are younger than most, more diverse than most and mostly far away from the national spotlight. They are the members of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association — and one of them might have their lives changed next week, depending on who Vice President Kamala Harris chooses as her running mate.
“It doesn’t change much on a day-to-day basis,” Austin Davis, lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, told NOTUS. “As lieutenant governor, anything could happen, right? Your governor could be in a car accident. Your governor could, you know, have a heart attack. Any number of things could change your world in a moment.”
Davis is the first Black person to be elected to his job, and he’s only 34. If Harris selects the commonwealth’s governor, Josh Shapiro, to join her ticket — and the Democrats win in November — Davis will make history as Pennsylvania’s first Black governor. It is a job he was elected to be ready for, which makes his current job different from most. This year’s unexpected veepstakes are just another reason to be ready, he said.
“Probably, it’s a little easier because you have maybe a little more notice if something’s going to happen,” he said, “as opposed to, you know, if something happens unexpectedly.”
Davis is the vice chair of the DLGA. The chair is Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who also would make history if another of Harris’ potential VPs, Gov. Tim Walz, joins the national ticket and wins. It would make her Minnesota’s first Native American woman governor.
“What I have said for years is, don’t sleep on lieutenant governors,” Flanagan said, “and don’t sleep on the second-in-command.”
This week, as speculation about Harris’ choice rose, Flanagan, Davis and other members of the DLGA gathered in Detroit for a previously scheduled but impeccably timed meeting. Like all Democrats gathering anywhere, they talked about the veepstakes. They vowed they don’t know who will get the job. But, of course, for them, the conversation about that job was a little different.
Harris is taking over the presidential campaign after President Joe Biden stepped away, and she will soon make history as the country’s first Black and South Asian woman major party nominee, a second-in-command whose rise could give a boost to another historic first in a state across the country.
“That one movement from President Biden opened up the door for something that many of us weren’t sure we’d see in our lifetimes,” said Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. That state’s governor, JB Pritzker, has also been a part of Democratic VP speculation, and if he were to be elected vice president, Stratton would become America’s first Black woman governor.
“That sort of domino effect means there’s lots of movement that might take place that could affect a lot of different levels,” Stratton said of Harris taking over as likely nominee.
Yes, the lieutenant governors gathered in Detroit talked about the veepstakes and what it might mean for one of them. But each of the three LGs told NOTUS that their conversations now and always are about doing the best job they can in a job that is unique in politics.
“We share all of us, similar roles, a similar struggle,” Davis said. “There’s not a lot of other people outside lieutenant governors who recognize what we go through on a day-to-day basis, on what we have to balance and juggle and recognize what goes into stepping up if you’re called upon.”
It’s no secret that the job is not super splashy. Flanagan says the DLGA is a connection for people serving in a role that is usually mostly thought of as a stepping stone to a different job.
“We all really like each other,” Flanagan said. “We cheer each other on. We have a DLGA group text where we lift each other up.”
Stratton, Flanagan and Davis are just three of the 25 Democrats currently serving as a lieutenant governor, 22 in states and three in U.S. territories, according to DLGA figures. Eighty percent are women or people of color, making them vastly more diverse than just about any other group of elected officials one can assemble in America. (According to stats kept by the Eagleton Center on The American Governor, 12 serving governors are women and just four are not white.)
So, in addition to the talk about who might get called up to governor, the Democratic LGs also have a shared perspective on how race is used in politics that their fellow second-in-command, Harris, now finds herself in the middle of. In just one interview this week, former President Donald Trump questioned Harris’ identity and struggled to defend his own would-be second-in-command, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who once said Harris was among the group of liberal “childless cat ladies” he says have too much power.
For the group of LGs who represent America’s diversity and possibly its political future, what Harris is going through feels personal to them.
“I really feel deeply connected to her,” Flanagan said. “I know what it’s like to be the first, and so many of us who are lieutenant governors know what it’s like to be a first.”
The two women last saw each other in May at a D.C. event. Flanagan recalled Harris “grabbed me by both shoulders and said, ‘I’ve got your back,’” she said. “I said the same back to her.”
Stratton said Trump’s interview was “quite frankly, disgraceful.”
Davis said it was the kind of campaign move he expected from Trump. “The fact that he is going to try to impugn her record or question her on the basis of race or throw out her qualifications because she’s a woman or a Black person is ridiculous, and it’s the most ignorant and repugnant thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “And it’s a question that, unfortunately, a lot of African American leaders have to deal with.”
Governors aren’t the only ones on the rampant VP speculation list. Harris’ campaign has said it is looking at a wide range of potential running mates, including at least one senator and a cabinet secretary. Vacancies in those jobs create opportunities, too, but do not have people constitutionally bound to fill them. Though each LG NOTUS spoke to carefully did not say they were hoping to get the governorship.
“We’re humble people in Minnesota, but it’s been really wonderful to see him get some kudos for the work that we’ve done,” Flanagan said.
But of course, they know their moment may be at hand.
“Whoever Vice President Harris decides to choose as her running mate, whatever that means for one of us as LG, I fully expect we’re going to rally to support that person,” Davis said.
The DLGA was planning to boost the profile of the Democratic LGs long before the VP frenzy took hold. The group is relatively new, reconstituting in 2018 after years of no national infrastructure supporting the nation’s Democratic seconds-in-command. Executive Director Kevin Holst pointed NOTUS to the group’s recent commitment to spend $1 million backing the gubernatorial primary campaign of Delaware’s LG, Bethany Hall-Long.
LGs have emerged as regular presidential surrogates this year, sometimes rallying crowds far away from the states they serve. Holst says he works for the bench of the party — the people who will be president, senator or governor soon. Maybe some sooner than others.
“Juliana Stratton has always been sort of the mom or auntie of the group, and she’s reminding everyone to just breathe,” Holst said. “We’re taking this moment by moment.”
The LGs, like everyone else, are waiting on Harris.
Flanagan said she doesn’t have any insights into the veepstakes. “I think my phone is going to melt in my hand with all the text messages I’m getting,” she said. “Regardless of when we find out, each of our lieutenant governors will be ready because that’s our job.”
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Evan McMorris-Santoro is a reporter at NOTUS.