Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough Democratic delegates to secure her party’s presidential nomination and take on Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press poll, reflecting the speed with which the Democratic establishment rallied around Harris following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election.
The strong endorsement of Harris represents an attempt by the party to put weeks of internal drama over Biden’s political future behind it and unite behind the mission to defeat Trump with just over 100 days to go until Election Day. Party leaders, elected officials and political organizations quickly rallied behind Harris a day after Biden dropped out of the race, and her campaign set a new single-day fundraising record Monday.
Several state delegations met Monday night to confirm their support for Harris, including those from Texas and her home state of California. By Monday night, Harris had the backing of far more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win in the first round.. None of the delegates contacted by AP named another candidate.
California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks said 75 to 80 percent of the state delegation participated in a call Monday and unanimously endorsed Harris.
“I haven’t heard of anyone mentioning or calling for another candidate,” Hicks said. “Tonight’s vote was momentous.”
It should be noted that the AP does not consider Harris the new presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. This is because delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the August convention, or if Democrats hold a virtual roll call before that meeting in Chicago.
In a statement, Harris responded to the AP recount, saying she is “grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who have already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our cause directly to the American people.”
Concerns about Biden’s ability to perform in office were replaced by fresh displays of unity after a seismic shift in the presidential race that upended both major political parties’ plans for the 2024 contest.
Speaking to her campaign team from Wilmington, Delaware, Harris said the past few weeks have been a “roller coaster” but expressed confidence in her new team.
“I intend to earn this nomination and emerge victorious,” she said. She vowed to “unite our Democratic Party, unite our nation, and win this election.”
She quickly pivoted to the issues that will be paramount during her campaign against Trump over the next 100 days, drawing a contrast between her time as a prosecutor and the Republican’s convictions for serious crimes. “I know the kind of people like Donald Trump,” she said, casting herself as an advocate for economic opportunity and abortion access.
“Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms,” he said. “The baton is in our hands.”
President Biden joined the meeting via a call from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from COVID-19, to lend his support to Harris. He had planned to discuss her decision to drop out of the race in an address to the nation in the coming days.
“The name at the top of the ticket has changed, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden said in his first public remarks since announcing his decision, vowing that “I’m not going anywhere” and that he plans to campaign on Harris’ behalf.
Harris plans to be in Wisconsin, a crucial state in the race, on Tuesday. The event in Milwaukee will be her first large-scale campaign event since announcing her candidacy.
The AP tally is based on interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties — many of which have announced their delegations are supporting Harris en masse — and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.
Prominent political figures announcing their endorsements Monday included Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, narrowing the list of potential Harris challengers.
House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, who had been among those who initially held off on endorsing Harris and pushed the idea of a primary contest to cement the eventual nominee, said Monday she would lend her “enthusiastic support” to Harris’ bid to lead the party.
If she wins the election, she would be the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to be president.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced before Biden dropped out of the race that it would hold an absentee vote to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings began. The convention rules committee is scheduled to meet this week to finalize its nominating process with an absentee vote by Aug. 1 if possible, the party announced Monday. The process would be completed by Aug. 7.
“We can and will be swift and fair as we pursue this nomination,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said on a conference call.
The party said the remote roll call vote would feature multiple rounds of voting in the event that multiple candidates meet the requirements. To be eligible, candidates must have electronic signatures from at least 300 convention delegates.
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