Tucson — Vice President Kamala Harris has started a “thorough” process of selecting a running mate in her bid to become America’s 47th president, her campaign manager confirmed to CBS News in an exclusive interview in Arizona on Friday.

“The vice president has begun a process that is probably one of the most important processes and decisions that she will make during her time as a candidate for president,” Julie Chávez Rodríguez said when asked whether Harris had narrowed down her list of potential vice presidential nominees.

Chávez Rodríguez said the campaign was “excited to see” Harris “undergo that process” of picking a Democrat to join her 2024 ticket, saying the effort would be “thorough and important.”

“As a campaign, we’ll get ready to gear up to have an extremely strong ticket in the coming weeks,” she added.

The Harris campaign has been vetting roughly a dozen potential vice presidential picks, CBS News has previously reported, including Democratic Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. 

When asked if Kelly was among those being considered, Chávez Rodríguez said, “I’m not going to get ahead of the vice president.” 

Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy pilot who is viewed as a moderate Democrat in Congress, would be a notable VP pick for Harris. He represents a border state that remains politically competitive, despite major Democratic wins in Arizona in recent years. Mr. Biden won the Grand Canyon state in 2020, but polling conducted before he dropped out of the race showed him losing to Trump there this year.

Sources close to the Harris campaign told CBS News that the likely nominee’s search for a running mate will conclude by Aug. 7.

Harris has “strong” appeal in Arizona, campaign chief says

Alongside the Midwestern states that make up the so-called “blue wall,” Arizona is one of a handful of states in the Sunbelt that will be critical in November’s presidential contest. In 2020, President Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since 1996, but only 10,000 votes separated him from former President Donald Trump.

Asked if Harris had a better chance of winning Arizona than Mr. Biden, Chávez Rodríguez said the vice president could attract key constituencies in the state, including young people, Latinos, women and Native Americans.

“The core coalition of voters that we need to win here in Arizona are voters that the vice president has a really strong appeal with,” she said.

Chávez Rodríguez mentioned that “reproductive rights is on the ballot here in Arizona,” referring to a proposed amendment that would enshrine access to abortion in the state. It could appear on the ballot in November.

“That’s an issue that [Harris] has been front and center on,” she said. “It’s one of the most politically potent issues.”

Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter at CBS News. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics.