Democrats rally behind Kamala Harris in show of unity

In the moments after President Biden announced Sunday that he had decided it was “in the best interest” of his party and country to exit the 2024 campaign, Democratic support quickly coalesced behind Vice President Kamala Harris, a move that could potentially spare Democrats a divisive nominating convention next month.

Leading the movement for Harris was Biden himself. In a statement shortly after he announced he was dropping out of the race, he threw his “full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”

Last week, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats from her home state that she favored an open convention, Politico reported, so as to avoid accusations of a coronation for Harris.

U.S. Elections: Finally, Biden withdraws from presidential race 

But Democratic donors who had pressured Biden to drop out of the race wasted no time in throwing their support behind Harris, the New York Times reported, quickly raising millions of dollars.

“My phone is exploding,” Gretchen Sisson, a top Democratic bundler, told the paper. “Lots of folks are asking where to contribute, what they can do to support the campaign, and wanting to write more. People who were committed but worried are now excited and energized.”

Harris’ edge

In many ways, Harris is the candidate who makes sense to replace Biden on the top of the Democratic ticket. For starters, because the Biden–Harris campaign was registered with the Federal Election Commission under both of their names, Harris could legally use those tens of millions of dollars in the campaign ahead.

Harris will also inherit all of Biden’s campaign staff, Biden’s former campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told the New York Times on Sunday.

Harris cannot simply be anointed as the party’s nominee, especially since the primaries have already concluded and Biden, not Harris, amassed the delegates required to be named the Democrats’ candidate for president. But Biden had yet to be named the 2024 nominee, a formality that is usually decided at a party’s convention.

Now, about 3,900 pledged Democratic National Convention delegates will be asked to pick the party’s nominee, and roughly 99% of them who are pledged to support Biden are no longer required to do so.

Another candidate could still step forward to challenge Harris, and if they do so, that could result in a number of scenarios as they compete for delegates’ support ahead of the convention, which begins on Aug. 19, where a floor vote could determine the winner. But if the pledged delegates rally around Harris and vote in the first ballot at the convention for her to become the nominee, the nomination fight will quickly be over.

It’s unclear if Harris will face a serious challenger. News outlets quickly reported that some of the leading contenders like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would not contest the race. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona endorsed Harris’ campaign, as did California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“The work that we must do now, while unprecedented, is clear,” Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement on Sunday. “In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Harrison added that “the American people will hear from the Democratic Party on next steps and the path forward for the nomination process.

Many Democrats rush to support Harris

Sen. Chris Coons of Maryland, a former Biden campaign chair, made clear Sunday afternoon that Harris was his pick to replace the president at the top of the ticket.

“I support Vice President Harris. I am very hopeful that we will come out of our convention next month united and that everyone who has expressed concerns and hopes and thoughts and fears in the last months will continue to support the ticket that will win this fall,” Coons said in an interview with CNN.

As the minutes passed following Biden’s announcement, a flood of Democrats joined Coons in his support of Harris, including the political action committee representing the Congressional Black Caucus; Reps. Adam Schiff of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; and Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Patty Murray of Washington, Mark Warner of Virginia, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Laphonza Butler of California.

Some Democrats did hesitate to commit to endorsing Harris, including Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont.

Welch told the Associated Press that he intended to “take a little pause” before making an endorsement.

Harris pledges to ‘earn and win this nomination’

As for Harris herself, Sunday’s announcement by Biden marked the start of a new chapter for her life in politics. But the vice president made clear that she, like Pelosi, did not want a rise to become the party’s nominee to be seen as a coronation.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement Sunday, adding, “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”