US Vice-President Kamala Harris has officially clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, surpassing the necessary threshold of 2,350 delegates in a virtual roll call. Harris’s formal nomination marks a historic moment, as she becomes the first Black woman and first South Asian woman to be the presidential nominee of a major US political party.
In a brief telephone statement, Harris expressed her honor at being the presumptive nominee. “We believe in the promise of America and that’s what this campaign is about,” she said. “We are in this, we are on the road and it’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to get this done.”
The virtual roll call, which began on Thursday and will conclude on Monday, has seen overwhelming support for Harris, with 99% of the 3,923 participating delegates backing her candidacy. This comes after President Joe Biden stepped aside last month and endorsed Harris, prompting several potential rivals to withdraw.
Harris, 59, hails from Oakland, California, and is the first Democratic nominee in the party’s history to come from a western state. Her political career includes roles as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and US senator.
The decision to hold a virtual nominating process was influenced by state ballot access laws in Ohio, which require candidates to be formally selected 90 days before the election. The convention, scheduled for August 19-22 in Chicago, risks falling afoul of these rules, prompting an early roll call to avoid ballot access issues.
With Biden having withdrawn from the race, Harris now faces Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November election. If successful, she would become the first female president of the United States.
Harris is expected to announce her vice-presidential running mate by Monday.
