Vice President Harris formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, culminating a long career and dramatic rise to become the nation’s first Black woman selected as a major party’s nominee and capping one of the most tumultuous months in recent American political history.
The virtual vote by nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates began at 9 a.m. on Thursday, and by a little after 1 p.m. on Friday, Harris had secured enough votes to win the nomination. Ultimately there was little suspense — Harris was the only candidate who qualified for the roll call vote, and most of the delegates had already endorsed her — but the formal ascent of the first woman of color to lead a presidential ticket marked a milestone for a nation long riven by racial and gender issues.
“I will officially accept your nomination next week, once the virtual voting period is closed,” Harris said on a live stream as delegates continued to cast ballots. “But already I’m happy to know we have enough delegates to secure the nomination.” The process officially continues through Monday, despite the foregone conclusion.
Attention now shifts to whom Harris will pick as a running mate, a process that is expected to wrap up in coming days before she and her vice-presidential pick launch a nationwide campaign tour next week across seven battleground states.
She has narrowed her search for a running mate to six finalists and is planning to conduct interviews with them this weekend, according to two people familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.
Those finalists are Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, the people said. Representatives for Beshear, Buttigieg and Shapiro confirmed that those officials had canceled previously scheduled plans for this weekend.
Harris, who was born in California to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, becomes just the second person of color in America’s nearly 250-year history to head a major presidential ticket, after Barack Obama did in 2008. If she prevails over Republican Donald Trump, she would be the nation’s first female and first Asian American president.
The Democratic Party has also never had before a presidential nominee from the West, a 2019 analysis from FiveThirtyEight found.
Parties typically nominate their ticket during their in-person convention, but Democrats were worried about ballot qualification deadlines in several states and decided instead to hold a virtual nomination before the Democratic National Convention later this month. Convention planners are preparing a symbolic roll call for prime-time television coverage at the gathering in Chicago, with representatives of each state offering their votes for Harris in a customized fashion.
Trump agrees to Fox News offer of debate with VP Harris on Sept. 4
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has agreed to an offer from Fox News to hold a debate with Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 4, he said in a post on Truth Social late on Friday.
“Rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party, but with a full arena audience,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his reelection bid.
The post was removed for a few minutes before being reposted, with Trump deleting his proposal for a “major” town hall gathering on the same date if Harris was “unwilling or unable to debate”.
Harris had responded last month that she was “ready” after Fox News proposed the presidential debate between the two candidates on Sept. 17.
After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.
As proof of her lack of support, he added that former President Barack Obama had yet to endorse her. But Obama did so a day later, and on Friday, she secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Washington Post/Reuters