Elizabeth Warren’s Path to Becoming VP Is Easier Than It Looks
Some Democrats worry that Joe Biden selecting Warren could lose them a Senate seat. But the chances of that are slim.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren shake hands ahead of the fourth Democratic primary debate on Oct. 15, 2019.
Photographer: SAUL LOEB/Getty ImagesThe three most buzzed-about candidates to become Joe Biden’s running mate are all U.S. senators: Kamala Harris (California), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts). But oddsmakers put Warren at a disadvantage because Massachusetts—unlike California and Minnesota—has a Republican governor who would probably fill her Senate seat with a fellow Republican, if given the opportunity.
The nightmare scenario some Democrats envision is that a Biden-Warren ticket will prevail in November and Democrats will win enough Senate seats to pull into a 50-50 tie with Republicans—only to have Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker appoint a Republican to fill Warren’s seat and hand control of the Senate back to Mitch McConnell and the GOP. “He knows,” a Democratic senator told CNN of Biden, “a Senate majority is too important to risk.”