2016 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

This article lists potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2016 election. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for President of the United States, chose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate. The formal nomination took place at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The Clinton–Kaine ticket ultimately lost to the Trump–Pence ticket in the general election, and Kaine returned to the Senate following the campaign.

Selection process
By April 2016, Clinton had begun discussions with advisers and allies regarding her potential running mate, though Bernie Sanders continued to challenge her in the Democratic primaries. According to campaign sources, Clinton did not have a particular running mate in mind, and did not feel pressured to pick a running mate designed specifically to appeal to Sanders supporters. Clinton's low public approval ratings led many of her allies to recommend that she choose a running mate with the potential to inspire voters, but Clinton's campaign expressed confidence that her ratings would improve once the Republicans had selected a candidate. There was relatively little public discussion about Sanders's running mate selection process. As the 2016 Republican National Convention took place roughly one week before the July 25–28 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic presidential nominee was set to choose her running mate after the Republicans nominated their ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Clinton's running mate selection process was led by campaign chairman John Podesta and Cheryl Mills, while the vetting process was led by attorney James Hamilton. In discussing her potential vice presidential choice, Clinton stated that the most important attribute she was looking for is the ability and experience to immediately step into the role of president. In contrast to previous Democratic presidential nominees, Clinton allowed for a relatively open selection process, holding rallies with many potential running mates and placing little emphasis on keeping her short list confidential.

Announcement
On July 22, Clinton announced via Twitter that she had chosen Tim Kaine as her running mate. After the selection, Amy Chozick of The New York Times described Kaine as a "battleground state politician with working-class roots and a fluency in Spanish." Like his Republican counterpart, Mike Pence, Kaine has experience both as a governor and a member of Congress.

If the Clinton-Kaine ticket had won election, Kaine would have resigned from the Senate, with Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe appointing Kaine's replacement prior to a 2017 special election. According to journalist Glenn Thrush, Kaine had been the preferred choice of Clinton since at least February 2016.

Reported shortlist
The Wall Street Journal reported on June 16, 2016, that Clinton's shortlist included the following nine individuals.

WikiLeaks List
On October 18, 2016 WikiLeaks released more hacked emails from Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta. One of these emails Podesta sent Clinton was a "first cut of people to consider for VP" in March 2016. He wrote that this list had been generated with other top aides. Podesta organized the list of 39 contenders into what he called "food groups" apparently based around identities — Latinos, women, African-Americans, military brass, and business leaders.

Other speculated candidates
The following individuals received coverage as potential running mates from multiple news sources. These individuals do not appear on the short list above or on the Wikileaks list.