Kamala Harris passes threshold needed to become Democratic presidential nominee in DNC roll call vote
A majority of Democratic delegates has voted to select Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's nominee for president in a virtual roll call vote, her campaign and the Democratic Party said Friday, cementing her status at the top of the ticket heading into November.
The Democratic National Committee began the formal process for selecting the nominee on Thursday, when voting opened for the party's more than 4,000 delegates to cast their ballots using an online form or over the phone. Harris needed to secure votes from 2,350 delegates to cross the threshold required for winning the nomination, the campaign said. The vote closes at 6 p.m. on Monday, when her nomination will become official.
"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," Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced during a call with Harris' campaign.
Harrison marked the historic nature of Harris clinching the nomination.
"Today, my friends, is special, because we can proudly say we will have the first woman of color at the top of a major party ticket," he said.
Harris joined the call by phone and said she will officially accept the nomination after the voting period closes.
"I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States," she said.
The vice president vowed to defeat former President Donald Trump in November and reiterated that her campaign is focused on the future.
"This campaign is about all of us coming together, people coming together from every walk of life, every lived experience and being fueled by our love of country, knowing that we are prepared to fight for the best of who we are," she said.
Democrats swiftly coalesced around Harris as their candidate to take on Trump after President Biden announced less than two weeks ago his withdrawal from the presidential race. Mr. Biden endorsed Harris right away, and major Democratic figures joined him in throwing their support behind the vice president.
Harris ran unopposed for the Democratic presidential nomination after Mr. Biden dropped out, and went into the virtual roll call vote with the backing of nearly all state delegations.
The president praised Harris for securing the delegate support needed to clinch the nomination, writing on social media that he "couldn't be prouder. Let's win this."
The vice president's campaign said Friday that it raised $310 million in July, a tally that includes money raised before Mr. Biden dropped out. The haul more than doubles the $139 million the Trump campaign said it raised over the same period.
Harris has not yet announced her pick for vice president, but her campaign has vetted roughly a dozen candidates, including a number of Democratic governors. Six of those in the running have had calls this week with the campaign team vetting potential candidates, and the top contenders will meet with Harris herself this weekend, sources familiar with the plans told CBS News.
The vice president is expected to make a final decision on her running mate in the coming days, after which the two will hit the campaign trail for a series of events in crucial battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina, according to her campaign.
Harris makes history
Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, is the first Black and South Asian woman to be nominated for president in U.S history. She also made history when she was elected vice president in 2020, becoming the first woman and first Black and South Asian American to hold the job.
Glynda Carr leads Higher Heights, an organization dedicated to helping Black women run for elected office. She said Harris' nomination changes how women of color in politics are viewed.
"We are watching a time that is historic not just for Black women but this is, you know, everyone from across the globe is watching this moment," said Carr. "It's not even a glass ceiling for women of color and Black women. It's like cracking open the cement."
Harris builds on the legacy of the late Shirley Chisolm, who was the first Black woman elected to Congress. The New York Democrat was the first woman and first African American to seek the nomination of a major party when she announced her candidacy for president in 1972.
"This is an exciting moment about her making history," Carr added. "It is the fact that her candidacy sets a new direction in the way that we talk about Black women's political leadership and that is what is important in this moment."
A ceremonial roll call is also expected to take place at the Democratic National Convention later this month.
"She has earned the right to run this race and run it in a dignified way," DNC Convention Chair Minyon Moore told reporters ahead of the roll call vote.
Harris is the second woman to lead the Democratic ticket. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made history as the first female nominee of a major political party. She won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to then-candidate Donald Trump.
"We have seen other countries elect women as their heads of state but we lag in that area, as Hillary Clinton described it, the highest, hardest glass ceiling in American politics," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics. "We have not had unfortunately as many women positioned to make this kind of a run."
According to Walsh, women in elected office hold no more than a third or less of positions on the state and federal levels. She said Harris' candidacy could inspire more women of all backgrounds to run for office in future cycles.
"There is still ground to be gained when it comes to gender equity and racial equity in elected office in this country," Walsh said.
"(It's) truly inspiring not just for women's leadership and politics, but women's leadership across sectors, just opening up the door to what is possible."