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Harris: Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images. Clyburn: Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. Abrams: Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter.

Rep. James Clyburn has a list of African American women who are qualified to be vice president, and he told "Axios on HBO" in an interview that there's a "much deeper bench than people realize."

The big picture: Clyburn is widely credited with saving Biden's campaign following his endorsement in the South Carolina Democratic primaries.

"I'll never tell you who I'm going to advise him," Clyburn said in the interview, "but I would advise him that we need to have a woman on the ticket, and I prefer an African American woman."

His list of qualified African American women includes:

  • Sen. Kamala Harris
  • Rep. Marcia Fudge
  • Rep. Val Demings
  • Former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams
  • Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
  • Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice
  • Also on his list: Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren

Between the lines: Harris, Fudge, Demings, Bottoms and Rice have all endorsed Biden. Abrams in 2019 warded off reports of the Biden campaign weighing her as an early VP pledge, but she didn't eliminate the idea of joining Biden at a later date.

Go deeper

Updated 36 mins ago - Science

Tropical Storm Eta makes landfall in the Florida Keys

Heavy rain and wind lashes Miami, Florida, as Tropical Storm Eta approaches the south of Florida on Sunday. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Tropical Storm Eta was unleashing strong winds, heavy rains and "dangerous storm surge" over parts of South Florida and the Florida Keys early Monday after making landfall in the state, per the National Hurricane Center.

The state of play: Hurricane warnings were in effect for the Florida Keys and for the state's coast, from Golden Beach to Bonita Beach, as the storm was packing sustained winds of near 65 mph with higher gusts.

Updated 49 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Cuomo on Biden win: "The political pressure of denying COVID is gone" Biden announcing COVID task force on Monday.
  2. States: : Utah governor declares state of emergency as cases spike
  3. Cities: Defense Department sends medical teams to El Paso as COVID-19 cases surge.
  4. World: Designing digital immunity certificates for COVID-19.
6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden's Hispanic overture

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Bill Clark (CQ Roll Call), Saul Loeb (AFP), Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

After Joe Biden whiffed with Hispanic voters in some states, Democrats are urging the president-elect to nominate several Latinos to high-profile Cabinet positions.

Among those in contention: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for Homeland Security, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for Health and Human Services, and Rep. Filemon Vela for Commerce or Transportation.