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{{Short description|Person on a joint ticket during an election}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Multiple issues|
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A '''running mate''' is a [[person]] running together with another person on a joint [[Ticket (election)|ticket]] during an [[election]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=RUNNING MATE {{!}} definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/running-mate |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20201101021443/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/running-mate |archive-date=2020-11-01 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The term is most often used in reference to the person in the [[subordinate]] position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a presidential candidate) but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates.

Running mates may be chosen, by custom or by law, to [[Ticket balance|balance the ticket]] geographically, ideologically, or personally; examples of such a custom for each of the criteria are, geographically, in [[Elections in Nigeria|Nigerian general elections]], in which a presidential candidate from the predominantly [[Christianity|Christian]] south is typically matched with a [[Vice President of Nigeria|vice presidential]] candidate from the predominantly [[Islam|Muslim]] north, and vice versa, ideologically, the Brazilian general elections in [[2010 Brazilian general election|2010]] and [[2014 Brazilian general election|2014]], where [[Dilma Rousseff]] of the left-wing [[Workers' Party (Brazil)|Workers' Party]] ran alongside [[Michel Temer]] of the center-right [[Brazilian Democratic Movement|Brazilian Democratic Movement Party]], and, personally, the [[2016 Bulgarian presidential election]], in which both candidates who went on to the [[two-round voting|second round of voting]], [[Rumen Radev]] and [[Tsetska Tsacheva]], had running mates of the opposite gender. The objective is to create a more widespread appeal for the ticket and the results can range from assisting the resulting pair of candidates in appealing to a larger base of people to deterring voters who were initially inclined to vote for the running candidate, but may have been put off by the choice of the running mate.

The term is usually used in countries in which the offices of [[President (government title)|president]] and [[Vice President|vice president]] are both directly elected on the same ticket, in reference to a prospective vice president. However, there are countries, such as the Philippines and (nominally) [[Cyprus]], in which the president and vice-president are elected on separate tickets, and frequently, this results in them being from different political parties – indeed, when the Philippine vice-presidential position was restored in 1987, only twice were the president and vice-president elected from the same ticket, in [[2004 Philippine presidential election|2004]] and [[2022 Philippine presidential election|2022]]. Further, in other countries, such as [[Botswana]] and [[Venezuela]], the vice-president is legally appointed by the president in all cases (unlike, for instance, the United States, in which the president appoints a vice-president only in case of a vacancy, or Taiwan, in which the president nominates candidates for vice-president in case of a vacancy and the [[Legislative Yuan|Legislative Council]] elects one of them to fill the vacancy).

In cases of both separate elections and appointments, the president and vice-president are not considered running mates because they are not elected on the same ticket.

== In United States politics ==
In the United States, "running mate" refers not only to a candidate for vice president (federal), but also to a candidate for lieutenant governors of those states where the governor and lieutenant governor are jointly elected. Historically, American running mates were chosen by political parties in consultation with the principal candidate (i.e., the person running for president or governor). 

In the late 1960s, it became the practice of the principal candidate in presidential elections to announce their preferred choice of running mate at their political party's national convention. The current practice is for the presumptive nominee of a political party to announce their choice for running mate ''before'' the national convention.

The practice of running candidates for president and vice president together evolved in the nineteenth century. Originally, electors cast votes for two candidates on the same ballot for president; the candidate who finished second place in the tabulation became vice president. Starting in 1804, the president and vice president were elected on separate ballots as specified in the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] which was adopted in that year{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}. As more and more states subsequently began to choose their electors by popular election instead of appointment ([[South Carolina]] being the last state to change, in 1860), candidates began to realize they could run together as a team for president and vice president instead of running completely separately for each office.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The practice of a presidential candidate having a running mate was solidified during the [[American Civil War]]. In 1864, in the interest of fostering national unity, [[Abraham Lincoln]] from the Republican Party (popular in the North) and [[Andrew Johnson]] of the Democratic Party (popular in the South) were co-endorsed and ran together for president and vice-president as candidates of the [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} 

Notwithstanding that this party disbanded after the war ended, with the result that after Lincoln's assassination he was succeeded by a Democrat, Johnson, the states began to place candidates for president and vice-president together on the same ballot ticket, thus making it impossible to vote for a presidential candidate from one party and a vice-presidential candidate from another party, as had previously been possible.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Presidential candidates from smaller states sometimes choose a vice presidential running mate from a state with a large number of [[United States Electoral College|electoral votes]]{{Why|date=June 2021}} as in 1984, when [[Walter Mondale]] of Minnesota (10 votes) selected [[Geraldine Ferraro]] of New York (then 36 votes).{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} 

It is preferred, but not legally required, that the running mate be from a different state from the presidential nominee, because each elector can vote for no more than one candidate from their own state. Running mates can also be chosen from swing states in order to boost a candidate's chance of winning in the state.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

{{Quotation|In electing a subordinate officer the Electors will not require those qualifications requisite for supreme command. The office of the Vice President will be [[sinecure]]. It will be brought to market and exposed to sale to procure votes for the President.|[[William Cocke]], December 2, 1803|Witcover 1992 cited by Sigelman and Wahlbeck 1997<ref>{{cite journal |title=The "Veepstakes": Strategic Choice in Presidential Running Mate Selection |author=Lee Sigelman |author2=Paul J. Wahlbeck |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=91 |issue=4 |date=December 1997 |pages=855–864 |doi=10.2307/2952169 |jstor=2952169|s2cid=147092948 }}</ref>}}

== Outside the United States ==
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In many countries in which there are a president and vice-president with both positions being directly elected by popular vote, the running mate of the winning presidential candidate automatically assumes the vice-presidency; a notable exception is the Philippines, in which one presidential candidate can be (and usually is) elected with the running mate of an opposing candidate.

=== In legislatures ===
In the [[Republic of Ireland]], the term "running mate" refers to members of the same party who are running for the same [[Dáil constituencies|constituency]] in a general election for [[Dáil Éireann]].

In [[party-list proportional representation]], candidates of a political party are arranged in a list (whether closed or open-list) to sit in the number of seats accorded to the party by percentage of the vote. Candidates who are not seated due to being ranked lower on the list than the number of seats accorded to the party are able to fill the party's seats as alternates if vacancies occur. 

== List of adoption of a running mate system ==
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{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country !! Formal adoption !! First election used !! Before !! Notes
|-
| {{Flag|United States}} || [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|1804]] || [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]] (''[[de jure]]''); [[1796 United States presidential election|1796]] (''[[de facto]]'') || Separate election || De facto – The United States formally uses a system of [[indirect election]] by an [[Electoral college (United States)|electoral college]]
|-
|rowspan=2| {{Flag|Brazil}} || 1966 || 1966 || Separate and [[indirect election|indirect]] election || [[Indirect election]] by an electoral college was introduced by the [[Brazilian military junta of 1969|1969 military junta]]; until then, the president of Brazil was elected directly.
|-
| 1988 || [[1989 Brazilian presidential election|1989]] || Indirect election under the running mate system || Direct presidential elections were restored, retaining the running mate system, by the 1988 Constitution.
|-
| {{Flag|Bangladesh}} || 1989 || Never || Appointed by president || Vice-presidency abolished upon reversion to [[parliamentary System]] in 1991
|-
| {{Flag|Russia}} || 1991 || 1991 || N/A (no vice-presidency) || [[Vice President of Russia|Vice-presidency]] abolished in 1993 due to adoption of a new [[Constitution of Russia|Constitution]]
|-
| {{Flag|Taiwan}} || 1992 || [[1996 Taiwanese presidential election|1996]] || Separate and [[indirect election|indirect]] election ||
|-
| {{Flag|Malawi}} || 1994 || [[1994 Malawian general election|1994]] || N/A (no vice-presidency) ||
|-
| {{Flag|Indonesia}} || 2002 || [[2004 Indonesian presidential election|2004]] || Separate and [[indirect election|indirect]] election ||
|-
| {{Flag|Palau}} || [[2004 Palauan constitutional referendum#Joint election of the president and vice president|2004]] || [[2008 Palauan general election|2008]] || Separate election || The running mate system was abolished in 2008, effective 2012, following which Palau reverted to separate election.
|-
| {{Flag|Zambia}} || 2015 || 2016 || Appointed by [[President of Zambia|president]] ||
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-clinton-and-trump-are-using-their-running-mates-on-the-campaign-trail/ How Clinton And Trump Are Using Their Running Mates On The Campaign Trail ]

[[Category:Presidential elections in the United States]]
[[Category:Election campaigns]]