US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party’s presidential nomination, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November’s showdown against Republican Donald Trump.
Harris, 59, was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates.
The first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party’s nomination, she will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month.
Harris said on a phone-in to a party celebration she was “honoured” to have amassed the required support by the second day of the marathon virtual vote and declared: “We are going to win this election.”
“And it is going to take all of us … We are going to talk with people about the fact that we are all in this together, and we stand together,” Harris said.
“And so, let’s let folks know that our campaign is about the future. And it’s about an expansion of rights and freedoms, and for the opportunity of everyone not just to get by, but to get ahead.”
In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid, Harris has gained full control of the party, smashing fundraising records, packing arenas, and erasing the polling leads Trump had built over the president.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Biden posted on X after her nomination.
The nomination milestone came with Harris preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for a swing across seven crucial election states alongside her yet-to-be-named running mate.
The roll call – held earlier than usual and online due to altered state registration rules – marks the official beginning of the 2024 convention, with the traditional festivities starting when the party faithful descends on Chicago on Aug 19.
Trump’s White House bid was thrown into chaos on Jul 21 when 81-year-old Biden, facing growing concerns about his age and lagging polling numbers, withdrew his candidacy and backed Harris.
Energetic and two decades younger than 78-year-old Trump, the vice president has made a fast start, raising US$310 million in July, according to her campaign – more than double Trump’s haul.
She and her running mate are scheduled to rally Tuesday in Pennsylvania – a crucial swing state, where Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro is on the shortlist to join Harris’s ticket.
