Kamala Harris is sole candidate to qualify for DNC roll call Thursday

Harris is sole candidate to qualify for DNC roll call starting Thursday

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Joe Biden abandoned his campaign for a second term after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats to withdraw and just months ahead of the November election, throwing his support behind Harris. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Top Democrats announced Tuesday that Vice President Harris was the only candidate to earn enough delegates to qualify for the virtual roll call to nominate their official presidential candidate, a process that will kick off Thursday.

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison and Democratic National Convention Chair Minyon Moore announced Harris had earned 3,923 delegates and would be the only candidate to be considered.

The virtual roll call will begin on Thursday morning and wrap up on Monday.

“Democratic delegates from across the nation made their voices heard, overwhelmingly backing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee,” the two said in a joint statement. “As we prepare to open the voting on our virtual roll call, we move to this final stage of our nomination process with unprecedented momentum and unity across our party.”

“We look forward to celebrating together with all of our delegates in Chicago, where we will show up in full force as a strong, united Party laser-focused on defeating Donald Trump and JD Vance in November,” they added.

The committee planned to hold a virtual roll call Thursday if only one candidate qualified for the nomination, with the deadline to qualify — which requires 300 delegates to sign a petition of support with no more than 50 delegates from any one state — by 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Harris quickly gained support from well more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination since she announced her intent to seek the nomination just after President Biden dropped out of the race July 21.

The vice president, if she wins the virtual roll call, will be the official nominee weeks before the Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19 in Chicago. She is expected to name her running mate by Aug. 7.

Harris earlier Tuesday said she hasn’t yet chosen her running mate for the 2024 ticket, but her and her running mate pick are set to travel to battleground states next week, her campaign announced.

The decision to hold a virtual roll call vote ahead of the convention stems from plans initially made to ensure Biden appeared on the ballot in Ohio, which had a deadline to certify the party’s presidential nominee before the convention. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has since extended the key deadline in his state.