Harris has support of enough Democratic delegates to become party's presidential nominee: AP survey
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Vice-President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party's nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's decision to drop his bid for re-election.
Vice-President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party's nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's decision to drop his bid for re-election.
Harris, who was endorsed by Biden minutes after he announced he would not accept the Democratic nomination, worked to quickly lock up the support of her party's donors, elected officials and other leaders.
However, the Associated Press is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That's because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats hold a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.
The AP survey is only an indication that she has the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates she'll need to win on a first ballot. But it also finds she's the overwhelming choice of her party to replace Biden at the top of the ticket, as no other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by AP.
By Monday night, Harris had the support of at least 2,214 delegates, according to the AP tally, enough to win the nomination on the first ballot.
Prompted by voter concerns about his fitness for office following his June 27 debate with Trump, and a revolt among party leaders and donors, Biden quit the race on Sunday. But the quick coalescing behind Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden's political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day.
