Kamala Harris is poised to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket.
ADVERTISEMENTUS Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said on Friday.
The online voting process doesn’t end until Monday, but Harris' campaign marked the moment when she crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.
The announcement came after the campaign said earlier that it raised €286 million last month, an eyepopping sum showing that donors who once seemed spooked about the prospects for November’s election with President Joe Biden are now offering mountains of cash to boost his former No. 2.
The haul by Harris, the Democratic National Committee and affiliated entities far outpaced Republican former President Donald Trump, whose campaign and assorted committees said they took in €127 million for July.
Harris is poised to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket, and she joined a call with supporters to say she is “honoured to be the presumptive Democratic nominee.”
“It’s not going to be easy. But we’re going to get this done," she added. "As your future president, I know we are up to this fight.”
Harrison pledged that Democrats “will rally around Vice President Kamala Harris and demonstrate the strength of our party” during their convention in Chicago later this month.
The Democratic National Committee did not provide details of the delegate vote count, including a number or state-by-state breakdowns, during a virtual event that had the flavour of a telethon, with campaign officials keeping tabs on a delegate-counting process whose result is a foregone conclusion.
No other candidate challenged Harris for the nomination, and she swiftly solidified Democratic support in the days after Biden endorsed her.
Democrats still plan a state-by-state roll call during the party’s convention, the traditional way that a nominee is chosen. However, that will be purely ceremonial because of the online voting.