Vice President Kamala Harris on Aug. 2 earned enough votes from Democratic delegates to secure the party’s nomination for president, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison said on Aug. 2.
“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 Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” Harrison said in a statement.
The DNC began its early virtual roll call of delegates at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1 to nominate its candidate in time to meet ballot certification deadlines in multiple states that occur later this month.
The virtual voting process does not end until Aug. 5, but Harris has met the delegate threshold needed to secure the nomination.
“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee,” Harris said during a call with supporters.
Harrison said the DNC would “rally around Vice President Kamala Harris and demonstrate the strength of our party” at the convention in Chicago Aug. 19–22.
Harris said she is “honored” to be the party’s presumptive nominee, but will formally accept the presidential nomination next week when voting officially ends.
The vice president joined a campaign livestream on Aug. 2 after Harrison announced that she had received enough delegates to become the party’s presumptive nominee.
Harris said she’s excited for the road ahead but acknowledged, “We know we have a lot of work to do.”
“The power is with the people,” Harris added. “We are going to win this election, and it is going to take all of us.”
Harris needed the support of at least 1,976 delegates to meet the nomination threshold but had already submitted signatures from 3,923 delegates by Aug. 1.
The nominee will be selected officially on Aug. 7, although no other candidate has met the delegate threshold to challenge Harris.
After she becomes the presidential nominee, a vice-presidential selection will follow.
Harris has not yet chosen a running mate but said this week that she would make the announcement ahead of an Aug. 6 campaign stop in Philadelphia.
Her vice presidential shortlist includes Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Harris would become the first black woman to be nominated for president in U.S. history. She also identifies as Indian American, as her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is an immigrant from India.
The DNC decided to hold a virtual roll call for the party’s presidential nomination in May because Ohio’s previous ballot certification deadline was Aug. 7, and Alabama’s was Aug. 15, prior to the convention.
Even after both states passed measures to move their deadlines to Sept. 1 and Aug. 23, respectively, the DNC kept its plans for an early roll call to ensure its candidate would secure ballot access in all 50 states and to prevent any legal challenges. Deadlines in Montana, Oklahoma, Virginia, and California fall in the same week as the convention.
