As Harris considers a running mate, what are states’ succession rules for VP candidates?

The 2024 White House campaign has thrust a handful of governors and senators into the mix for vice president, and that has drawn attention to rules of succession in the contenders’ home states should they win.

Each state has its own rules for naming replacements when elected officials leave office. Those rules carry significant political stakes in a year when former President Donald Trump has already selected Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate and Vice President Kamala Harris considers her own choice for the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

Here are the rules in some states that have VP contenders:

Pennsylvania

If Harris picks Gov. Josh Shapiro, he can remain in office as governor while he campaigns for vice president. If he ultimately were elected, Shapiro would have to resign as governor before the Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration.

Shapiro, 51, is in his second year as governor.

Constitutionally, Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis would be tapped to serve the remainder of Shapiro’s four-year term, which ends in January 2027. Davis ran on the 2022 general election ticket with Shapiro after Shapiro endorsed him in a separate primary for the lieutenant governor’s office.

Davis, 34, would become the youngest governor in the country and the first Black governor of Pennsylvania, as well as its second-youngest ever. He is already the youngest lieutenant governor in the nation and the first Black lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania.

A new governor would be elected in the November 2026 election.

Ohio

If Vance is elected, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine would have the job of appointing his replacement.

His appointee would serve from Inauguration Day until Dec. 15, 2026, under state law. A special election for the last two years of Vance’s six-year