Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, the Democratic National Committee said Friday, setting Harris up to become the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to earn the top spot on a major political ticket for president.
Jaime Harrison, party chair, said Harris’ nomination would become official after the party’s highly unusual, virtual roll call vote ends Monday. He made the announcement during an online meeting for supporters as delegates were still voting in a process designed to formally name the Democratic nominee before the party’s convention later this month.
The moment caps five weeks of chaos for Democrats, who had embarked on a pressure campaign — in public and behind closed doors — to persuade President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid after his abysmal debate performance in June against former President Donald Trump.
Although her place atop the ticket had essentially been a foregone conclusion since Biden endorsed her almost immediately after dropping out last month, Harris has brought her party together remarkably quickly, raising more than $200 million, drawing thousands of people to her rallies and energizing her party’s base.
She has also taken the spotlight from Trump, weeks after he survived an assassination attempt.
By Friday, more than 2,350 delegates had voted for Harris, the only candidate who qualified for the ballot, giving her a majority, Harrison said. The party said the virtual roll call would ensure a nominee would be in place by Aug. 7 to avoid potential legal headaches in Ohio.
The online voting began at 9 a.m. Thursday and is set to continue until 6 p.m. Monday. Each delegate received a personalized virtual roll call voting form by email when the voting began. Delegates were instructed to fill out the forms, which are customized and have watermarks, and return them by email to an inbox maintained by their delegation.
Holding the vote online means the traditional roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention, when the states shout their delegates’ votes from the convention floor, will be purely symbolic. Typically, that is the moment when the party’s presumptive nominee officially clinches the nomination — and is usually met with raucous celebration inside the convention arena.
Still, the convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago, will most certainly keep a national spotlight focused on Harris’ candidacy.
Now the party must prepare for a three-month sprint of a race against Trump.
One outstanding question for Harris is whom she will select to run alongside her, which she is expected to announce by Tuesday. Her campaign has said she and her new running mate will appear together that day in Philadelphia, part of a five-day tour of all seven top battleground states.
An intensive vetting process of the prospective candidates wrapped up Thursday afternoon. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona are widely seen by Democrats as the top contenders. Harris is said to have blocked off several hours on her calendar this weekend to meet with those being considered.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
