US Vice President Kamala Harris orders ice cream with her nieces from Tyra Banks at the opening of Banks’ new pop-up ice cream shop, Smize & Dream on 19 July 2024 in Washington, DC. (POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
- Kamala Harris
received widespread support from top Democrats and a surge in donations after
Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race. - Numerous
important figures and potential running mates expressed their endorsement. - There was a
significant fundraising boost following Harris’ campaign launch.
Endorsements
poured in swiftly Sunday for Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s
presidential nominee following Joe Biden’s extraordinary announcement that he
would step down from the race.
Throwing
support behind the current US vice president were a variety of party
heavyweights as well as numerous governors and other officials previously
considered potential nominee rivals, but who now stand a chance of becoming her
running mate.
FOLLOW IT LIVE | DEVELOPING: ‘The American dream personified’: Many Democrats back Harris, but Pelosi, Obama silent
“A lot
of big dominos have fallen, including almost all of the major, potential
contenders who might have challenged her. Hard to see any other outcome here
than her nomination,” Democratic former White House strategist David
Axelrod wrote on X, calling Harris’ sudden momentum a “shock-and-awe
campaign.”
California
Governor Gavin Newsom and his Pennsylvania counterpart Josh Shapiro on Sunday
endorsed Harris to lead the Democratic ticket, removing themselves as possible
contenders.
“With
our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one is better to
prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in
a healthier direction than America’s Vice President, @KamalaHarris,”
Newsom wrote on X.
Signs are pictured outside the US Naval Observatory, where US Vice president Kamala Harris lives, in Washington, DC, on 21 July 2024. (Daniel Slim/AFP)
Meanwhile,
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said Harris “should be the next
president,” and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who like
Harris sought the Democratic nomination in 2020, said he would “do all
that I can to help her win this election.”
Democratic
standard-bearers, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and a raft of
Democratic members of Congress, including left-wing star Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, also endorsed Harris.
Some
notable figures, including former president Barack Obama and ex-House speaker
Nancy Pelosi, praised Biden for his decision but stopped short – for now – of
endorsing Harris.
The money
was also pouring in, with Democratic fundraising group ActBlue announcing that
small donors had raised $46.7 million in the hours after Harris’s campaign
launch – “the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle.”
Biden
endorsed Harris as his replacement shortly after announcing he was bowing out,
saying choosing her as his running mate in 2020 had “been the best
decision I’ve made.”
Delegates fall
in line
The formal
nomination process for a candidate occurs at the party’s summer nominating
convention, where delegates chosen from all 50 states, the US capital and
overseas territories officially anoint a candidate chosen by voters during the
primaries.
Biden
overwhelmingly won the primary votes, and the party’s roughly 3 900 delegates
heading to the convention – scheduled to begin 19 August in Chicago – are
pledged to back him.
A man holds a sign showing his appreciation for US President Joe Biden along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on 21 July 2024. (Samuel Corum/AFP)
However,
following Biden’s shock announcement, the entirety of delegates from several
states, including Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina had swiftly
pledged their support for Harris. A slew of delegates from elsewhere were also
beginning to fall in line.
“I
hope that we don’t see a situation where we’re Democrats who are looking for an
opportunity to make a name for themselves, try to grandstand and become
candidates in this race,” Hendrell Remus, chair of the Tennessee
democratic party, told AFP.
“I
think now is the time for us to get behind Kamala Harris as a nominee.”
