Clinton holds day of VP interviews at her home in D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton summoned contenders to become her running mate to her Washington, D.C., home on Friday as she closes in on a pick for vice president.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper were seen in separate cars departing the former secretary of state's home on Friday afternoon.
A person familiar with the process said Clinton also met with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro at her home. The person would only speak on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
The meetings came a day after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee campaigned alongside another contender, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, in northern Virginia.
A small group of Clinton campaign confidants have reviewed publicly available information about the potential contenders for more than a month. The in-person meetings come less than two weeks before Clinton formally accepts her party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
"On Friday, Secretary Clinton held a series of campaign-related meetings at her Washington home, including several about her vice presidential selection process," spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement. Campaign chair John Podesta and vice chair Huma Abedin were among the Clinton aides who spent the day at her home.
They met the same day that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump named Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to be on the GOP ticket.
Kaine, a former mayor and governor from a key general-election battleground state, is considered to be a safe choice for Clinton, someone who could help her appeal to moderates who have been turned off by Trump's divisive rhetoric.
Warren spent about an hour at Clinton's home, her second visit in the past month. The senator is an economic populist and a favorite of liberals who would help Clinton connect with many of the progressives who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primaries. Warren would also help form an unprecedented all-female presidential ticket.
Hickenlooper is a relatively new name in the process and hails from another top battleground state. The second-term governor founded a brewpub in Denver in 1988 and later became the city's mayor and was instrumental in luring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to the Mile High City. He would bring a Western presence to the ticket and offer a small businessman's appeal to the ticket.
Castro is a 41-year-old former San Antonio mayor who delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. He was tapped by President Barack Obama two years later to lead the housing agency. If selected, he would be the first Latino on a presidential ticket.