Harris Gets Official Nod From Democrats, as All Eyes Turn to the Final Six Preening To Be Her Veep
‘I will tell you, the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders, and our staff has been pivotal to making this moment possible,’ Harris says.
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Vice President Harris on Friday was officially nominated as the presidential choice for the Democratic Party, and she plans to spend the weekend interviewing the six finalists in the running to become her veep.
For two days this week and continuing into Monday, the Democratic National Committee has been holding a virtual roll call vote, which was initially set up so that President Biden, then the presumptive nominee, could become the official nominee ahead of a deadline in Ohio.
However, the state changed its rule and the DNC decided to move forward with the vote as planned.
In a statement Friday, the DNC chairman, Jamie Harrison, said, “I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the democratic party following the close of voting on Monday.”
Ms. Harris said in accepting the nomination: “I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States and I will tell you, the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders, and our staff has been pivotal to making this moment possible.”
In the final days of Mr. Biden’s presidential bid, it was reported that some in the party had hoped for an open convention, where candidates and delegates could contest who should be the nominee. Yet Mr. Biden endorsed Ms. Harris shortly after announcing he would drop out, and she quickly shored up the support of enough delegates to virtually guarantee her nomination.
The nomination comes ahead of the Democratic National Convention that begins August 19, when the party will release its 2024 platform and hear from prominent members, including Ms. Harris.
She is expected to announce her running mate before the DNC. She is set to announce her choice ahead of a tour of America that begins this Tuesday at Philadelphia.
The Washington Post reports that six vice presidential finalists will be interviewed this weekend by Ms. Harris. The finalists include Governor Beshear of Kentucky, Governor Pritzker of Illinois, Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Governor Walz of Minnesota, the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg of Indiana, and Senator Kelly of Arizona.
The vetting process for the vice presidential hopefuls was condensed dramatically for the purpose of filling the vacancy on the ticket. Typically, the process takes months. This year it is set to be completed in just weeks.
While the running mate pick is one of the first big decisions any presidential nominee must make, the weight of that choice has been made apparent this year with President Trump’s choice of Senator Vance.
Since choosing Mr. Vance, Trump has been on the back foot, defending his choice as Mr. Vance faces criticism for his views on gender as well as his broad unpopularity, with some polls finding that he is the most unpopular new vice presidential nominee in decades.
While the choice will ultimately be up to Ms. Harris, a recent survey from Redfield and Wilton Strategies found that either Mr. Buttigieg or Mr. Kelly would be the most popular candidates.
The survey found that the two were both the first choice of 17 percent of respondents. Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Beshear were the first choice of 11 percent and 7 percent of respondents, respectively.
Perhaps the most notable finding of the survey, though, was that a plurality of the 1,750 voters surveyed, 23 percent, said they didn’t know who they would prefer, underscoring that any choice will need to be introduced on the national stage.