https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/11/22/elias-vances-bay-area-connections-all-but-guaranteed-him-his-veep-post/

An old saying tells us “no one votes for the vice president in a presidential election, just for the president.” The quick ascension of Californian Kamala Harris to her party’s presidential nomination last summer, though, demonstrates how vital the choice can be, a decision usually made solely by prospective presidential nominees.

So it was this year with Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio’s Republican U.S. Sen. JD (for James David) Vance. It’s pretty clear that Walz calling Republican President-elect Donald Trump and his choice of Vance “weird” first propelled him into Harris’ consciousness.