Here’s what Cal Cunningham wants to see in Biden’s pick for vice president
Add Cal Cunningham to the growing list of Democrats who want Joe Biden, their party’s presumptive presidential nominee, to pick a woman of color as his running mate.
Cunningham, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, said Tuesday that he has told Biden’s presidential team as much.
Biden, the former vice president, has said he would choose a woman to be on the ticket. His team is vetting potential choices now, and Biden said Monday on MSNBC that there are four Black women on his list. He has not committed to choosing a woman of color.
“First, yes, a woman of color,” Cunningham said in an interview with McClatchy. “A person who is ready to assume the presidency in a heartbeat. That is an essential threshold and, frankly and fortunately, we have a number of eminently qualified women of color who are prepared to assume the presidency.
“And then, third, he needs to pick somebody with whom he has a good, strong personal chemistry so that the two of them can work together seamlessly in a moment of real crisis.”
Among the women of color who have been mentioned as potential running mates for Biden are U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, U.S. Rep. Val Demings of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Duckworth is Asian-American. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is white, is also reportedly under consideration.
Cunningham is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in one of the key races this fall for determining control of the U.S. Senate. The race is considered a toss-up, but Cunningham has grabbed a small lead in polling averages. Libertarian Shannon Bray and Constitution Party candidate Kevin Hayes are also on the November ballot.
Cunningham defeated state Sen. Erica Smith, a Black woman, in the Democratic primary in March. Smith complained about Senate Democrats backing Cunningham during the primary.
Both Cunningham and Tillis are white men, as are the leading candidates for North Carolina governor and the two major presidential candidates.
No woman of color has ever been nominated by one of the two major parties for president or vice president.
Biden said he expects to name a running mate in about six weeks. He has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Black women were the most reliable voting bloc for Democrats in 2016 with 98% of Black women voting for Hillary Clinton for president, according to Pew Research. In the 2012 presidential election, Black women voted at a higher percentage than any other racial or gender group, The Washington Post reported. In North Carolina, Black women voted more than any other racial or gender group in 2008 and 2012 at over 75%, according to an analysis of State Board of Elections data by Democracy North Carolina.
Biden holds a very slim lead over President Donald Trump in polling averages in North Carolina. President Barack Obama, with Biden on the ticket, carried the state in 2008, but lost it in 2012. Trump carried the state in 2016.
Cunningham said he voted for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in North Carolina’s Democratic primary.
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This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
