WASHINGTON — Enough Democratic delegates selected Kamala Harris to make her the party’s presidential nominee by Friday, during an ongoing virtual vote that began less than two weeks after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign.
The vote, which will not officially close until Monday evening, was held in advance of the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to take place in Chicago later this month, to assuage concerns about state registration deadlines that begin in August.
The DNC began laying the groundwork for the virtual nomination months before Biden announced his decision to step aside.
Harris said on a call with supporters Friday that she was happy to have surpassed the threshold needed to win the nomination.
“Of course, I will officially accept your nomination next week once the virtual voting period has closed, but already I’m happy to know that we have enough delegates to secure the nomination,” Harris said.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison encouraged DNC delegates to keep sending in their ballots during the Zoom call, but said the support for Harris so far has been overwhelming.
“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,” he said.
“The outpouring of support we have witnessed for the vice president has been unprecedented,” Harrison added. “We knew your ballots would come back quickly. But the fact that we can say today, just one day after we opened voting, that the vice president has crossed the majority threshold and will officially be our nominee next week — folks, that is simply outstanding.”
The virtual roll call vote began Thursday at 9 a.m. Eastern and will conclude Monday at 6 p.m. Eastern. Harris was the only candidate to qualify.
The DNC plans to announce the final results afterward, including a state-by-state breakdown.
One of Harris’ first official acts will be selecting a running mate from a list that holds several governors as well as at least one senator. Her decision will set the tone for the sprint to the ballot box.
Harris and her running mate are expected to hold rallies in swing states next week, including Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, North Carolina on Thursday, Georgia and Arizona on Friday, and Nevada on Saturday.
