WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris acted quickly to bind Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden resigned amid fears within his own party that he would not be able to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
Biden’s resignation on Sunday, prompted by Democrats’ concerns about his fitness for office, marked a seismic shift in the presidential campaign, upending the carefully crafted plans of both major political parties for the 2024 election.
To put the weeks-long intra-party drama surrounding Biden’s candidacy behind them, prominent Democratic officials, party leaders and political organizations have quickly lined up behind Harris in the hours after Biden announced that he his re-election campaign.
Biden’s departure gives its delegates the freedom whoever they want to vote for. Harris, who endorsed Biden after he ended his candidacy, is the only declared candidate so far and has worked to quickly gain the support of a majority of delegates.
It’s just the first item on her dizzying political to-do list following Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, which she learned about in a phone call with the president on Sunday morning. If she manages to secure the nomination, she will also have to select a running mate and launch a massive political campaign to bolster her candidacy in place of Biden, with just under 100 days to go before Election Day.
On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign officially changed its name to “Harris for President,” reflecting that she inherits his political team of more than 1,000 staffers and a war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. By Monday morning, it got even bigger: Campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said Harris had raised $49.6 million in donations in the first 15 hours of Biden’s endorsement.
Harris spent much of Sunday surrounded by family and staff, making more than 100 phone calls to Democratic officials to secure their support for her candidacy, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort, as she tries to steer her party past the painful, public wrangling that has characterized the weeks since the election. Biden’s disastrous debate on June 27 with Trump.
In talks with party leaders, Harris expressed gratitude for Biden’s support but stressed that she was trying to earn the nomination on her own merits, the person said.
In a sign that the Democratic Party was ready to unite behind her, Harris quickly gained support from the leadership of several influential factions and political organizations, including the AAPI Victory Fund, which focuses on Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, the Collective PAC, which focuses on building Black political power, and the Latino Victory Fund, as well as the chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the entire Congressional Black Caucus. Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to hold the presidency.
Most notably, a handful of men who had already been discussed as possible candidates to replace Harris – Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly – also quickly issued statements voicing their support for her. Aides to Shapiro and Cooper confirmed that Harris had spoken to them on Sunday afternoon. In her brief phone call with Cooper, the North Carolina governor told Harris that he would support her as the Democratic nominee, according to Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner.
But former President Barack Obama held off on an immediate endorsement, as some in the party expressed concern that the quick move to Harris could create the appearance of a coronation, and instead pledged his support for the party’s eventual nominee.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year but was considering re-registering as a Democrat to run against the vice president, told CBS News on Monday that he would not run.
With the additional endorsements on Monday, the list of possible rivals for Harris, who remained the only candidate, became shorter and shorter.
Harris was scheduled to make her first public appearance at the White House on Monday morning, where she is scheduled to speak at an event honoring the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s champion teams. She is representing Biden, who is Infection with COVID-19 last week.
Harris praised Biden’s “selfless and patriotic act” in deciding to drop out of the race in a statement and said she intends to “earn and win” her party’s nomination.
“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party – and our nation – to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme agenda “Project 2025”,” She said.
Biden planned to discuss his decision to resign in an address to the nation later this week. In a letter posted to his X account on Sunday, he wrote: “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country that I resign and focus exclusively on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Nearly 30 minutes after announcing the news that he was ending his campaign, Biden pledged his support to Harris.
“Today I want to express my full support and endorsement of Kamala as our party’s nominee this year,” he said in another post on X. “Democrats – it’s time to come together and defeat Trump.”
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place in Chicago from August 19 to 22, but the party had announced that it a virtual appeal to formally nominate Biden before in-person negotiations begin. The convention’s rules committee is scheduled to meet this week to finalize its nomination process, and it’s unclear how it will be adjusted to account for Biden’s departure.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragan stressed that she fully supports the vice president. She said she spoke with Harris on Sunday, who told her she preferred to forego a virtual roll call for the nomination process and instead conduct a process that follows the regular order.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement that the party would “conduct a transparent and orderly process” to “select a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
