Less than 24 hours after President Biden ended his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris had already secured the endorsements of several prominent Democrats, including those rumored to be her potential rivals in the last-minute race for the presidency.
Harris got the biggest endorsement on Sunday, when Biden endorsed her to be his successor. Still, Harris said her “intention is to win this nomination,” a nod to the fact that it’s not a done deal. The vice president spent Sunday calling more than 100 Democrats, including members of Congress, governors and union and civil rights leaders, according to a person familiar with Harris’s activities on Sunday.
“In each of those calls, the vice president made clear that she was extremely grateful for the president’s endorsement, but that she plans to work hard to win the Democratic nomination in her own right,” according to the source, who added that Harris was expected to continue making calls on Monday.
In her first public appearance since becoming a presidential candidate, Harris spoke on the South Lawn of the White House before a group of NCAA championship teams on Monday morning. She focused on Biden, saying the president is “feeling much better and recovering quickly” from a bout of COVID-19.
“In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office,” he said, in his only reference to the weekend’s whirlwind events.
In a statement on social media, Harris said she would then travel to Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden’s campaign is based, “to greet our staff.”
It's the first full day of our campaign, so I'll be heading to Wilmington, DE later today to meet with our staff at headquarters.
One day has passed, 105 days to go. Together, we will win.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 22, 2024
Donations for Harris have surged since the announcement, with $49.6 million in grassroots donations since yesterday afternoon, according to her campaign. Bakari Sellers, a Harris ally, said he thinks they could have the nomination wrapped up by Wednesday, adding that he was working the phones to drum up delegate support for Harris.
The Democratic National Convention Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to determine the nominating process. The formal convention in Chicago, where delegates will gather to cast their votes, begins Aug. 19.
But in several states, delegates are meeting in advance — some as early as this week — to discuss whether they will back Harris. As the nation’s largest state, California has outsized influence on the summer convention. Chairman Rusty Hicks encouraged the state party’s 496 delegates to back Harris.
Harris has already garnered endorsements from many Democratic leaders, including Governors Gavin Newsom of California, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Kathy Hochul of New York, Janet Mills of Maine, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Jared Polis of Colorado, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, as well as Senators Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Chris Coons of Delaware, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and John Hickenlooper of Colorado.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — both seen as potential replacements for Biden — endorsed Harris on Monday morning, in a joint statement with Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Tony Evers of Wisconsin. Michigan and Wisconsin are key states that Harris will need to win.
“I also believe it's time for us to break that highest, hardest glass ceiling and finally elect a woman president of the United States,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Some Democrats have been silent on the issue of the recommendations, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who reportedly worked behind the scenes to persuade Biden to step aside.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign continued its attacks on Harris, which have escalated in recent weeks. In an email to supporters titled “Harris Dishonest Mondays: Harris is Biden 2.0,” the campaign said Harris is “just as complicit as Biden in the destruction of our once-great nation, and they must all be voted out of office.” The email also emphasized one of the campaign’s main sticking points with Harris: that she conspired to hide Biden’s decline from the American people.
A recent series of polls pitting Harris against Trump show the former president leading by just a few percentage points.
