Vice President Kamala Harris officially secured the Democratic party’s presidential nomination, winning support from 99 percent of pledged delegates in a virtual roll call vote, the Democratic National Committee announced late Monday night.
The roll-call vote took place virtually over a five-day period, and 4,567 Democratic delegates voted for Harris to become the party’s nominee, the culmination of an uncompetitive primary process that commenced after President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the presidential race.
“With the support of 99% of all participating delegates in the virtual roll call, 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. We thank the thousands of delegates from all across the country who took seriously their responsibility throughout this process to make their voices – and the voices of their communities – heard,” said DNC Chair Jamie Harrison and DNCC Chair Minyon Moore.
Harris said last week she was “honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee” after she collected enough delegates in online voting to earn the nomination.
“I will officially accept your nomination next week, once the virtual voting process is closed, but I’m happy to know we have enough delegates to secure the nomination,” Harris reportedly told her supporters in a call on Friday.
The deadline for delegates to submit their virtual ballots was Monday, but Harris had already cleared the threshold to secure the nomination by Friday afternoon. While the DNC is scheduled to begin on August 19 in Chicago, Democratic delegates held the virtual vote ahead of the convention in order to meet a ballot access deadline in Ohio next week.
Democrats will still hold a traditional roll-call vote at the convention, though it will be merely symbolic.
Harris becomes the first black woman and first Indian-American to serve as a major party’s presidential nominee.
The latest news comes as the party quickly came together behind the vice president after President Biden announced his exit from the race last month.
What could’ve been a contested nomination fight became a coronation for Harris, who immediately secured support from Democratic delegates, party leaders, and would-be rivals in the wake of Biden’s decision to bow out.
Harris received key endorsements from Biden, former President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
In a little over 24 hours after Biden dropped out, Harris had received pledges from enough Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee to take on former president Donald Trump.
Trump has a narrow 1.2 percentage point lead over Harris, according to a polling average from RealClearPolitics.
Harris, meanwhile, has pulled in more than $200 million in donations since entering the race last month, including $100 million in donations in less than 48 hours after Biden dropped out.
More than 30 members of Congress had called for Biden to exit the race before the president made his announcement that he was ending his campaign in a social-media post. Biden had faced a weeks-long pressure campaign from Democratic lawmakers and others to step aside and allow for a younger candidate to run in his place amid concerns about his mental acuity that ramped up after his disastrous debate performance.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that conclusion of the virtual roll-call vote.