WASHINGTON – The path to the Democratic nomination for Vice President Kamala Harris was cleared Monday as she secured the support of potential rivals and other senior party members the day after President Joe Biden was elected ended his re-election campaign.
Numerous Democratic lawmakers, governors – including some believed to have presidential aspirations themselves – influential unions and key outside groups endorsed her within 24 hours of Biden’s unscheduled announcement on Sunday afternoon, but no grave challenger emerged.
In Harris’ first public appearance since Biden’s announcement and endorsement, the vice president met with college sports champions at the White House. She began her brief remarks with a tribute to Biden, who was “doing much better” during his recovery from COVID-19 on Monday, she said.
“Joe Biden’s accomplishments over the past three years are unprecedented in modern history,” she said. “In one term, he has already surpassed the accomplishments of most two-term presidents.”
Campaign staff greeted Harris with cheers behind schedule Monday afternoon as she visited campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. Video from the Washington Post. The video showed that a California flag had been hung in the campaign office and signs reading “Kamala” and “Harris for president” were attached to the walls next to “Biden-Harris” posters.
Several key Democrats had not publicly endorsed them as of Monday afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and former President Barack Obama had not offered support.
Jeffries told reporters he and Schumer plan to meet with Harris “shortly.” Although Jeffries did not endorse Harris, he said she “excited the Democratic caucus in the House and she excited the entire country.”
Democrats in Congress support Harris
But there were expressions of support from Capitol Hill.
Leading Democrats in Congress, such as the second-highest Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and the second-highest Democrat in the House, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, also expressed their support for Harris early Monday.
And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said in a statement that she supports Harris and praised her commitment to reproductive rights – an issue that has been at the heart of Democrats’ efforts in various campaigns since the end of Roe v. Wade.
“Politically, make no mistake,” Pelosi said. “Kamala Harris is brilliantly astute as a woman in politics – and I have every confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.”
The chairwoman of the Democratic campaign team in the House of Representatives, Suzan DelBene of Washington, also pledged her support for Harris.
Harris also enjoys the support of all leading Democratic politicians from influential congressional factions in the House of Representatives.
They include Representatives Steven Horsford of Nevada from the Congressional Black Caucus, Nanette Barragán of California from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Pramila Jayapal of Washington from the Progressive Caucus, and Judy Chu of California from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Obama holds back
Obama has not yet endorsed Harris, but said in a lengthy statement on Sunday that he has “extraordinary confidence that the leadership of our party will be able to set in motion a process that will produce an outstanding candidate.”
Likewise, in 2020, the former two-term president waited until Biden was officially nominated by the Democratic National Committee before expressing his support.
The DNC will drive the process forward to formally nominate a presidential candidate when its Rules Committee meets for a public virtual session on Wednesday, while efforts are underway to organize a virtual roll call vote ahead of the party’s convention in Chicago next month.
As of Monday afternoon, no grave challenger to Harris’ nomination had emerged, with independent Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia saying in a morning MSNBC interview that he would not seek the Democratic nomination.
Governors support Harris
Following Biden’s support for Harris, several Democratic governors have also offered their support for the Vice President, including the governors speculated to be among Harris’s candidates for vice presidency and possible rivals for the nomination.
Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Wes Moore of Maryland and JB Pritzker of Illinois all announced their endorsements the day after Biden withdrew from the race.
Beshear announced his support for Harris in a television interview on Monday morning. He would not say whether he would like to join Harris’ campaign, but said in a statement on X that the vice president would “bring our country together and lead us beyond the politics of anger we have seen over the past few years.”
By Monday afternoon, every Democratic governor in the country had pledged their support, including Jared Polis of Colorado, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Laura Kelly of Kansas, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Katie Hobbs of Arizona, Janet Mills of Maine, Jay Inslee of Washington state, Tina Kotek of Oregon, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island and Maura Healey of Massachusetts.
The contracting states plan the next steps
Several States Parties supported Harris or specified they would support them.
Democrats in North Carolina Voted to support Harris, NC Newsline reported.
At Beshear’s request, Democrats in Kentucky Voted The Kentucky Lantern reported that voters supported Harris “overwhelmingly.”
The State Party of New Hampshire merged behind Harris at a meeting on Sunday evening, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin.
Democrats in Maine are scheduled to meet Monday evening and will likely consider a proposal to shift the party’s support from Biden to Harris, the Maine Morning Star reported.
Interest Groups
Several influential organizations close to the Democrats announced their support for Harris.
Emily’s List, which advocates for the election of Democratic women who support abortion rights, tweeted his approval on Sunday.
The LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign supports Harris pointed to her early support for marriage equality and other work on LGBTQ issues.
UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights group approved Harris.
Gen-Z for Change, formerly TikTok for Biden, had not given the president any support for his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, in which more than 39,000 Palestinians were killed. But shortly after Biden announced that he would drop out of the race, gave Harris a recommendation.
The political action committees of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus also endorsed Harris.
Several unions step in
Harris has also won the support of several unions since announcing her candidacy. The Service Employees International Union, which represents two million service workers including those in health care, real estate and public services, announced its support for Harris on Sunday.
In a written Opinion, SEIU President April Verrett said that “SEIU is TOTALLY FOR Harris” and that the vice president “has made sure to use every lever of government to do everything possible to improve the situation for working people.”
The American Federation of Teachers unanimously approved Harris Sunday. AFT represents 1.7 million education professionals across the country, from teachers and paraprofessionals to school health workers and college professors.
The United Farm Workers also quickly switched its support from Biden to Harris on Sunday afternoon. The union said in a written statement that it “could not be prouder to support her for President of the United States.” opinionand cited her support for farmworkers during her time as attorney general and senator in California.
SEIU, AFT and UFW supported Biden in 2020 and this year before he withdrew from the presidential race.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has not endorsed the presidential race, but invited Harris to a roundtable with rank-and-file members. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention last week. The union endorsed Biden in 2020 but had withdrawn its support for his Re-election this year.
Notably, the UAW has not announced support for Harris. Biden went Picket lines in Michigan during the historic autoworker protests last September. The UAW thanked Biden for his efforts in a opinion Sunday.
