Vice President Kamala Harris has officially secured the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for 2024, becoming the first woman of color to lead a major political party's national ticket.
Vice President Kamala Harris has officially clinched the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nomination, marking a historic milestone in the nation's history. Harris, who has served as vice president under President Joe Biden since 2021, secured the votes of a majority of pledged delegates to the Democrats' upcoming national convention.
The nomination came amid a virtual roll call for the nomination, which the Democratic National Committee (DNC) kicked off on Thursday and lasted through Monday. Harris was the only candidate to qualify for the presidential nomination roll call.
Kamala Harris Clinches 2024 Democratic Presidential Nomination
"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," DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.
Harris, on a call Friday with supporters, said, "I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States."
Kamala Harris Clinches 2024 Democratic Presidential Nomination
She emphasized that "the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders and staff has been pivotal in making this moment possible."
Harris' clinching of the nomination comes less than two weeks after President Biden's announcement that he was ending his 2024 re-election campaign against former President Donald Trump, the GOP's nominee. Biden's decision came amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month's first presidential debate with Trump.
Kamala Harris Clinches 2024 Democratic Presidential Nomination
Biden's immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party's nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 convention delegates.
With Harris' nomination now cleared of any doubt, speculation has soared in the past week and a half over whom the vice president will choose as her running mate. The Harris campaign has announced that the vice president and her soon-to-be-named running mate will embark on a swing through all seven key battleground states starting Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
After the presidential nomination virtual roll call concludes at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, DNC rules allow for Harris to place the name of her running mate into nomination. According to the DNC, the convention chair would then declare that candidate to be the party's vice presidential nominee.
Harris' nomination is a historic milestone for the Democratic Party and for the nation as a whole. As the first woman of color to lead a major political party's national ticket, Harris is poised to make history once again if she is elected president in 2024.
