Kamala Harris is expected to announce her running mate for the presidential election today, Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
Harris is expected to announce her choice before they appear together at an evening rally in Philadelphia to kick off a five-day tour of the swing states that are crucial to winning the presidential election.
The search has reportedly narrowed to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Harris, 59, interviewed both men, as well as the Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, over the weekend at the Naval Observatory, the Washington DC residence of the Vice President.
Her choice of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, for her first rally with her new running mate has fueled speculation that it will be Shapiro
Each of the contenders was widely seen to bring strengths to the ticket. Kelly is a former combat pilot and astronaut from the border state of Arizona, which is is also an election battleground state.
Pennsylvania, too, is a swing state, and Shapiro is strikingly popular with Republican voters, whom Harris courted this weekend by rolling out a slate of endorsements from anti-Trump conservatives, including former Trump White House officials.
Although Minnesota is not a battleground state, Walz is more popular with young and progressive voters than Kelly or Shapiro, the latter having drawn heavy fire for his stance on Israel’s war in Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.
The selection will culminate what has been a lightning-fast vetting process, which saw a round of interviews both in person and online as it is little more than two weeks since Biden stood aside and Harris became the de facto nominee.
Harris moved quickly to secure key endorsements and delegate pledges within days of Biden’s withdrawal from the race, which rocketed Harris to the top of the ticket.
Biden, former Democratic presidents, party officials, lawmakers, celebrities and scores of voters embraced her candidacy while she earned record-breaking donations to support her run.
Whoever is chosen by Harris will then embark on a rapid-fire tour of battleground states with events in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.
The candidate will also become Vice President if Harris beats Donald Trump in November.
Harris Officially Declared Presidential Candidate
Harris has now been officially declared the Democrat presidential candidate for the 2024 election, making history as the first Black woman and Asian American to top a major party ticket.
Her nomination became official late on Monday, August 5, 2024, night, after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegates came to an end.
The DNC began its virtual roll call vote for delegates on Thursday, August 1, 2024 with a deadline in place to return ballots by Monday evening.
On Friday, it was announced that Harris, the former California Attorney General had already received enough votes (2,350) from delegates to clinch the nomination to take on Donald Trump in November.
The DNC announced her win in a statement, revealing that she had earned the support of 99 per cent of the 4,567 delegates casting ballots in the roll call vote.
“Vice President Harris has historic momentum at her back as we embark on the final steps in officially certifying her as our party’s nominee,” DNC Chair, Jaime Harrison and convention chair, Minyon Moore said in a statement.
By comparison, Trump secured 2,387 votes from the near-2,500 delegates in attendance at last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to House speaker and convention chair Mike Johnson, which equates to approximately 95.5 per cent of the total.
Harris will formally accept the nomination in person at the party’s convention beginning on August 19, 2024.
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