California Democratic Party delegates unanimously voted Monday to support Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential nomination.
The vote, motioned by House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, took place during a rapidly assembled meeting of more than 400 delegates over Zoom, according to California Democratic Party Vice Chair David Campos.
Since President Joe Biden’s exit from the race Sunday, local democratic support has quickly closed ranks around Harris, a former senator from California and two-time San Francisco district attorney.
Pelosi announced her endorsement Monday. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who said weeks earlier that Biden should stay in the race, said Sunday that she’s all in for Harris, as did former Mayor Willie Brown, who even suggested that Biden should resign and let Harris take over the rest of his term as president.
Biden’s eleventh-hour exit Sunday culminated nearly a month of intense pressure after his disastrous June 27 debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Immediately after quitting the presidential race, Biden endorsed Harris as the party’s nominee. Since then, no other candidates have come forward to challenge the vice president for the Democratic nomination.
The party will express support for its nominee during the Democratic National Convention, to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
It has been widely reported that Harris is the de facto Democratic nominee for president. The Associated Press said late Monday that Harris had secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of voting.
While Harris has rapidly garnered party support, Campos stopped short of saying she is the presumptive nominee.
“I think it’s an open process,” he told The Standard. “Anyone who wants to can run. But I think you’re seeing people are coming together to support her.”
Campos said Harris is a much-needed shot of enthusiasm for the Democratic Party, and support has gathered around her “rapidly and organically.”
He added that having a well-qualified candidate creates a stronger image for the party, which can help Democrats maintain control of the U.S. Senate and win seats in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“People were feeling that we were doomed to lose to Donald Trump in a landslide,” Campos said. “Now there’s a glimmer of hope.”
While Campos stopped short of saying that Harris will be the party’s nominee, San Francisco State University politics professor Jason McDaniel was more certain.
“There’s no doubt in my mind Harris will be the nominee,” he said. “It’s still an open process, but I haven’t seen anyone step forward to challenge her in the past 24 hours.”
McDaniel said Harris could draw young Black and Latino voters to the polls in a way that Biden could not.
McDaniel said he agrees with Campos that support for Harris is growing organically because she will champion policy issues Democrats care about; namely, abortion and climate. Because of her experience as a prosecutor, he added, she stands in stark contrast with Trump, a convicted felon.
Enthusiasm around Harris also stems from her story as the first woman and person of color to serve as vice president — and an Oakland native possibly rising to the highest office in the land.
For those and other reasons, McDaniel said, Harris “represents the American Dream.”