Already on the second day of the US Democrats’ electronic vote, which began on Thursday, Kamala Harris received enough votes for her official nomination as candidate for the presidential election in November. This was announced by the responsible committee of her party. She was the only candidate in the digital vote – her nomination at the party convention in Chicago was therefore considered a formality.
This means that Harris will likely run against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November election. The 59-year-old will thus have the chance to become the first woman in the history of the United States of America to assume the presidency. If she wins the election, she would become the head of the world’s largest economy and at the same time the commander-in-chief of the nuclear superpower’s military.
Harris is confident
Harris said she felt honored. “It won’t be easy, but we will get there,” she said, looking ahead to the rest of the election campaign and the actual election on November 5. Everyone has to do their bit to win the election. The message to people should be “that our campaign is about the future,” said Harris. It is also about “expanding rights and freedoms.”
Harris’ campaign team said it had already received donations totaling $310 million (€284 million) as of Friday. The majority of $200 million came after US President Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he would not run for office and would support Harris after weeks of debate about his mental fitness.
According to party headquarters, 3,923 party delegates, or 99 percent of participants, supported Harris’s candidacy for the presidency with their signatures prior to the vote.
Just a formality
Usually, the presidential candidates of the two major US parties are officially nominated at party conventions. However, the Democratic Party Convention from August 19 to 22 in Chicago is now only there to celebrate Harris’s candidacy, which had already been decided upon beforehand.
US election: What is an “open convention”?
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The Democrats had already made plans for a virtual vote on the presidential candidate before the party convention, before Biden announced his withdrawal. These plans were based on a law in the state of Ohio that states that presidential candidates must be officially named by August 7. Ohio then postponed the deadline until after the party convention. However, Democratic party representatives expressed concern that the Republicans might still use the original deadline.
Who will be the running mate?
Harris is expected to name her candidate for vice president by Monday. Among those being considered are governors Andy Beshear from Kentucky and Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, as well as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Harris has announced that she wants to appear with the vice-presidential candidate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. This will likely be the start of a blitz trip through six other states. The selection of the candidate is considered a strategically important decision. It is about winning decisive votes in the states that are likely to be decisive – the so-called swing states.
The personnel realignment of the Democrats is a challenge for the Republican candidate Trump. With Biden’s withdrawal, his lead in the polls also decreased. Campaign donations for him in July were significantly lower than for Harris.
Trump now dares to enter TV debate
In the US election campaign, Republican candidate Donald Trump agreed to a televised debate with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris. “I have agreed with Fox News to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. It is unclear whether Harris also agreed to the TV debate.
Former President Donald Trump and incumbent Joe Biden during the TV debate in JuneImage: Will Lanzoni/CNN/ZUMA Press Wire//picture alliance
The rules are to be similar to those of his TV debate with President Joe Biden at the end of June, but with an audience. Harris had agreed to a TV debate with Trump after Biden withdrew as a candidate last month. Trump had initially reacted cautiously, arguing that Harris was not yet the official Democratic presidential candidate.
Before Biden withdrew from the election campaign, another televised debate with Trump was scheduled for September 10 on ABC.
