A six-second decision shows how Harris snapped up delegates

WASHINGTON – It took just seconds for Ms Lateefah Simon to signal her support for Vice-President Kamala Harris as the Democratic party’s nominee to run for president.

Ms Simon, a California superdelegate to the party’s convention, received a form on July 21 from the state party chairman asking if she would back Ms Harris

after President Joe Biden quit the race. 

“In six seconds, I returned it,” said Ms Simon, an Oakland congressional candidate who worked under Ms Harris when she was San Francisco’s district attorney. “California is going to come in super strong for Kamala Harris.”

Interviews with officials in some of the most populous states indicated similar levels of enthusiasm for Ms Harris, showing how the vice-president consolidated support to be a near-lock for her party’s nomination.

No candidate has announced plans to run against her, and an Associated Press tally late on July 22 found that she crossed the magic number of 1,976 pledged delegates needed to clinch the spot at the top of the ticket.

Mr Kendall Scudder, a Texas delegate and vice-chair of finance for the state Democratic party, said that each of the state counterparts he has talked to plan to support Ms Harris. Texas will send 273 delegates and superdelegates to the convention.

“Call in the dogs – the hunt is over,” he said. “Anyone who wants to run should have that opportunity, but I believe it will be a tough hill to climb because Kamala Harris is locking in grassroots support.”

The delegates pledged to vote for Mr Biden are now released to vote for whomever they want at the party convention in August in Chicago. Almost 4,000 delegates are eligible to vote in the first round at the convention, and a candidate needs support from a majority to win outright.

More than 700 party members, many of them elected officials, are considered superdelegates and would be eligible to vote only if the nomination process goes to a second round.

But that seemed unlikely just a day after Mr Biden made his historic announcement, with a plethora of lawmakers, governors and other party officials all throwing their support behind Ms Harris. 

While some Democrats have pushed the idea that candidates other than Ms Harris may stand a better chance at defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump, no one else has put themselves forward to run and potential rivals such as California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have committed to supporting her. 

Mr Andre Treiber, a superdelegate from Texas, circulated an open letter to state delegates on July 21 in support of Ms Harris. 

The responses were “overwhelmingly in her favour”, he said in an interview. “I believe anyone should be allowed to run, but that Vice-President Harris is clearly winning the process.”

Mr Mark Robert Gordon, an Arizona delegate, said Ms Harris is set to have support wrapped up.

“I think it’s coming to a consensus,” Mr Gordon said. 

New York state’s roughly 300 Democratic delegates and superdelegates, one of the biggest contingents, are set to support Ms Harris at the August convention in Chicago, party chairman Jay Jacobs said on July 22. 

“New York will be supporting Kamala Harris,” he said in an interview. “Every indication from phone calls we’ve been making and receiving from all across the state is overwhelming support.”

Ms Christine Pelosi, a superdelegate from California and the daughter of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said the party would like its 496 delegates and super delegates to unify behind Ms Harris. She said there is a conference call scheduled to shore up support.

“Kamala Harris will have a massive amount of support coming out of California,” Ms Pelosi said. “We are going to be a big chunk of that block that it takes to put her over the top.” BLOOMBERG