Kamala Harris says she has secured broad support needed to become Democratic presidential nominee

WASHINGTON – Ms Kamala Harris has more than enough pledged delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, following an extraordinary two-day blitz that saw the vice-president consolidate her party’s backing

to challenge Donald Trump in November

.

Ms Harris sealed her status as the presumptive nominee on the night of July 22 after crossing the magic number of 1,976 pledged delegates, according to an unofficial Associated Press tally.

While delegates who indicated their support are not required to back her nomination, the achievement – and lack of credible opposition – underscores the vice-president’s hold on the Democratic ticket.

President Joe Biden tapped Ms Harris – a 2020 primary rival who became his running mate – as heir apparent shortly

after announcing on July 21 that he would step aside

following weeks of escalating pleas for him to step aside in the aftermath of a poor debate performance in June.

Ms Harris quickly picked up endorsements including those of former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She won the support of Democratic governors rumoured to be possible candidates: California’s Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.

Ms Harris also benefited from donor enthusiasm, banking a record US$81 million (S$109 million) in the first 24 hours after announcing her candidacy.

“It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” Ms Harris told workers on July 22 at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. “So in the days and weeks ahead, I, together with you, will do everything in my power to unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation and to win this election.”

Mr Biden, who is quarantining at his beach home in Delaware

after testing positive for Covid-19

, called into the campaign meeting to say he would be “working like hell” for his vice-president’s bid.

“I won’t be on the ticket, but I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged,” Mr Biden said. “I’ll be doing whatever Kamala wants me, needs me to do.”

The president had won 99 per cent of the pledged delegates to August’s Democratic National Convention through a series of state primaries and caucuses earlier in 2024, and his endorsement served as a rallying point for the party.

The vice-president took over Mr Biden’s campaign, which was renamed “Harris for President”,

giving her access to its US$96 million (S$129 million) war chest

. She said on July 18 that the campaign’s leadership – chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez – would remain in place.

Delegates will formalise their votes in the coming weeks. On July 22, party leaders outlined a virtual balloting process to officially designate a nominee by Aug 7.

Ms Harris will now recommend a running mate to those same delegates, who will ratify the slate at the party’s national convention in Chicago the week of Aug 19 – if not through a similar virtual roll call earlier in the month.

Speculation has swirled around

a group of White, male elected officials

, many of whom are from battleground states. That included a cavalcade of governors – Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Minnesota’s Tim Walz – as well as Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer told CBS’s Lansing affiliate that she was not interested in the post.

Former Attorney-General Eric Holder and his firm Covington & Burling LLP are working to vet possible running mates, according to a person familiar with the process.

In another sign of how rapidly and broadly the Harris movement extended, the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) announced on July 22 that its executive council had “unanimously endorsed” her.

Ms Harris has vulnerabilities, including a tenure marked by frequent staff turnover and persistent doubts about her aptitude for retail politics. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll showed Ms Harris performing better than Mr Biden – but still trailing Trump nationally.

She will hold her first campaign rally as a 2024 presidential candidate on July 23 in Milwaukee. BLOOMBERG