Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Friday that she is “honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee” after collecting enough delegates in online voting to secure the nomination. “I will officially accept your nomination next week, once the virtual voting process is closed, but I’m happy to know we have enough delegates to secure the nomination,” Harris reportedly told her supporters during a call.
The deadline for delegates to submit their virtual ballots is Monday, but by Friday afternoon, Harris had already surpassed the required threshold, notes National Review. Although the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is set to commence on August 19 in Chicago, Democratic delegates are conducting a virtual vote ahead of the convention to meet a ballot access deadline in Ohio next week. Despite this, a traditional roll call vote will still take place at the convention, though it will be largely symbolic.
Harris has received significant endorsements from prominent Democrats, including Biden, former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, and Michelle Obama. Within just 24 hours of Biden’s announcement to not run for reelection, Harris had secured enough delegate pledges to become the party’s nominee to face former President Donald Trump.
President Biden’s decision to end his campaign came after a mounting pressure campaign from more than 30 members of Congress and other Democratic lawmakers. Concerns about Biden’s mental acuity intensified following a particularly poor debate performance, prompting calls for a younger candidate to take his place. Biden ultimately announced the end of his campaign in a social media post.