Running mate

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For other uses, see Running mate (disambiguation).

A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a presidential candidate) but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were running mates in 1988".

The term is usually used in the United States, in reference to a prospective Vice President. In some states, candidates for lieutenant governor run on a ticket with gubernatorial candidates, and are also known as running mates.

In United States politics[edit]

In the United States, "running mate" refers to a candidate for vice president (federal) or, in those states where the governor and lieutenant governor are elected together, to a candidate for lieutenant governor (state). Historically, running mates were chosen by political parties in consultation with the principal candidate (i.e., the person running for president or governor). In the late 1960s, it became the practice of the principal candidate in presidential elections to announce his preferred choice of running mate at his political party's national convention. The current practice is for the presumptive nominee of a political party to announce his choice for running mate before the national convention which, because of the extensive primary election and caucus system, is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Some states (e.g., Michigan) exactly mirror the federal process above for their gubernatorial elections, while others continue to hold separate votes for gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates; and some states have abolished or never had the office of lieutenant governor.

Meanwhile, some states, like California and Texas, still elect the governor and lieutenant governor on separate tickets, and frequently from different political parties. This was the case when George W. Bush was Governor of Texas. His first lieutenant governor, Bob Bullock, was a Democrat. In cases like this, the governor and lieutenant governor are not considered running mates because they are not elected on the same ticket.



Running mates are typically chosen to balance the ticket geographically, ideologically, or personally, as when the staid New Englander John F. Kennedy was matched with the folksy Texan Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960. Or, in 1984, when male Walter Mondale was paired with female Geraldine Ferraro. The object is to create a more widespread appeal for the ticket.

Presidential candidates from smaller states sometimes choose a vice presidential running mate from a state with a large number of electoral votes - as when Walter Mondale of Minnesota (10 votes) selected Geraldine Ferraro of New York (then 36 votes). It is preferred, but not legally required, that the running mate be from a different state from the presidential nominee, because each elector can vote for no more than one candidate from his or her own state. Running mates can also be chosen from swing states, for example Mitt Romney nearly picked Senator Rob Portman from Ohio in order to boost his chance of winning in the state.

