The delegates to the Democratic National Convention have officially nominated Vice President Kamala Harris (D) as the Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States. Harris will stand in the November general election against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump (D).
Harris’s nomination caps a tumultuous period in the Democratic nomination process. Incumbent President Joe Biden (D), who became the party’s presumptive nominee in March, announced on July 21 that he was ending his campaign and endorsing Harris, making Biden the first incumbent president since eligible for reelection to withdraw since Lyndon B. Johnson (D) in 1968. Harris became the presumptive nominee the next day. She is joined on the Democratic ticket by her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D).
The nomination would normally have taken place at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held August 19-22 in Chicago, Illinois. The party leadership chose to hold a “virtual nomination” due to legal concerns about the Ohio ballot access deadline. Voting concluded at 6:00 p.m. yesterday, but the results were not publicly announced until this morning. A ceremonial nomination will still be part of the convention.
Harris was elected vice president in 2020 and is serving her first term. She is mixed-race African American and Indian American, and the first woman, first African American, and first Indian American vice president. If elected president, she would be the first woman, second African American, and first Indian American to serve in that office. Harris previously served as District Attorney of San Francisco, California; Attorney General of California; and U.S. Senator from California. She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 before joining Biden on the party’s ticket.
The Democratic Party is the last of the two major parties to officially select its 2024 presidential nominees. The Republican Party selected theirs at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month. The Virginia filing deadline for independent and third-party candidates is August 23.
Updated, 11:23 a.m.: Harris has announced that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) will be her running mate. The post has been updated accordingly.