Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday she had secured enough verbal commitments from delegates to the Democratic National Convention to clinch the party’s presidential nomination — with her home state of California putting her over the threshold less than two days into her presidential bid.
More than 300 California delegates voted Monday to back Harris during a private Zoom call, after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged party activists to unite in solidarity, calling for the entire delegation to support Harris for nomination.
Pelosi said Harris’ candidacy has led to a “groundswell” of enthusiasm and boosted Democrats’ odds across the country, according to a recording of the call obtained by POLITICO. None of the delegates on the call objected to the vote.
“It’s all different now, thanks to the selflessness of Joe Biden and the excellence of Kamala Harris,” Pelosi said before the vote.
Pelosi added, “I know Kamala has known some bad hombres that she’s prosecuted. However, I know Donald Trump. We must be sure that he is not elected, that he does not come within a mile of the White House ever again.”
Harris herself issued a statement later, saying “I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, a friend of Harris who chaired her 2020 campaign for president, declared victory in a tweet afterward. “Our delegates have put the VP over the required number she needs to be our nominee going into convention!” Garcia posted on X.
Still, just because delegates say they’re voting for Harris doesn’t mean they ultimately have to at next month’s convention.
State delegations moved in rapid succession to back Harris over the first 36 hours after President Joe Biden announced Sunday he was stepping aside and supporting the vice president instead. Delegations in more than a dozen states held meetings since then to formalize their support — including in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Nebraska, Alaska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Indiana, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
More states’ delegates are expected to follow. Over 230 of Florida’s 254 delegates have said they’re behind the vice president, according to Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. Nearly all Wisconsin delegates have voiced their support as well.
Illinois has 178 delegates headed to the convention, and so far 64 have committed to Harris, said Christopher Dunn, the campaign’s Illinois state coordinator for delegate operations. Unlike other states that are holding virtual meetings to count delegates, Illinois is keeping track of endorsements through individual phone calls and emails.
And the vice president has enlisted her 2020 Leadership Committee to help call delegates. “Every single conversation has ended with a commitment or has leaned that way,” Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner told POLITICO. He was making calls to delegates in Illinois and across the country.
The fact that so many state delegations have backed Harris so swiftly after Biden dropped out is yet another sign that Democrats are raring to move on from the weeks of tumult that followed the president’s dismal debate performance last month.
And some of the party’s biggest names are leading the charge, including Pelosi. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey introduced the motion to endorse Harris during her state’s delegate call Monday night. Gov. Kathy Hochul championed Harris in New York, where delegates who joined the party’s virtual meeting were “energized, enthusiastic” and “hopeful,” said state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
In New Jersey, where Gov. Phil Murphy urged delegates to speak with “one voice” at the convention, delegates overwhelmingly backed Harris after over an hour of discussion.
“It was unanimous,” said New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chair LeRoy Jones.
Harris needs to win a simple majority of the nearly 4,000 convention delegates to officially lock up the nomination. If she fails to do so on the first round of voting, “automatic” delegates — elected officials, former presidents and party luminaries — can participate in subsequent rounds until a majority is reached. Delegates could begin voting on the party’s presidential and vice presidential picks as early as next week, under a draft plan released Monday by the Democratic National Committee.
But even with delegates across the country quickly jumping to back Harris, there were signs of how the process leading up to her bid had wreaked turmoil within the party.
Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat from Los Angeles County, told delegates during the California call that she was initially distraught when she heard the news Sunday. “When he first decided, I was angry, I was upset. I didn’t want to hear it,” Waters said.
But, she added, she began to see Biden’s decision as a “sacrifice” for the good of the party. “He has done what it takes to unite this country,” Waters said.
Politico
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