Pelosi endorses Harris, who gains quick support among leading Democrats

Faith E. Pinho, Seema Mehta and Noah Bierman | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, a slew of Democratic leaders threw their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris— including her highly influential Bay Area colleague, San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Harris won the topmost endorsement Sunday, when Biden backed her to be his successor. Later Monday, Pelosi gave her support for Harris, “with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future.”

“Officially, I have seen Kamala Harris’ strength and courage as a champion for working families, notably fighting for a woman’s right to choose. Personally, I have known Kamala Harris for decades as rooted in strong values, faith and a commitment to public service,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Politically, make no mistake: Kamala Harris as a woman in politics is brilliantly astute — and I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.”

Still, Harris said her “intention is to earn and win this nomination,” a nod to the fact that it is not a sealed deal. The vice president spent Sunday calling more than 100 Democrats, including members of Congress, governors and labor and civil rights leaders, according to a person familiar with Harris’ activities on Sunday.

“On each of those calls, the vice president made clear that she was extremely grateful for the president’s endorsement but plans to work hard to earn the Democratic nomination in her own right,” according to the source, who added that Harris was expected to continue making calls Monday.

In her first public appearance since becoming a presidential candidate, Harris spoke on the South Lawn of the White House to a gathering of NCAA championship teams Monday morning. She kept the focus on Biden, saying the president is “feeling much better and recovering fast” from a bout with COVID-19.

“In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office,” she said, in her only nod to the weekend’s whirlwind events.

In a statement on social media, Harris said she would go next to Wilmington, Del., where the Biden campaign is headquartered, “to say ‘hello’ to our staff.’”

Donations for Harris soared since the announcement, with $49.6 million in grassroots donations since yesterday afternoon, according to her campaign. Bakari Sellers, a Harris ally, said he believes they could have the nomination wrapped up by Wednesday, adding that he was working the phones to whip up delegate support for Harris.

The Democratic National Convention’s Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to determine the nominating process. The formal convention in Chicago, where delegates will convene to cast their votes, begins Aug. 19.

But in several states, delegates are meeting beforehand — some as early as this week — to discuss endorsing Harris. An Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates, conducted Monday morning, found early signs that Harris is consolidating support for the presidential nomination.

As the largest state in the nation, California has outsized influence on the summer convention. Chair Rusty Hicks encouraged the state party’s 496 delegates to endorse Harris. Already by Monday morning, all of New Hampshire‘s 25 pledged delegates signed a letter unanimously endorsing Harris for president.

Harris also picked up the endorsements of many Democratic leaders, including Govs. Gavin Newsom of California. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — both considered possible replacements for Biden — endorsed Harris on Monday morning, in a joint statement with Govs. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Tony Evers of Wisconsin. Michigan and Wisconsin are key swing states that Harris will need to win.

“She represents our Party’s best chance to defeat Donald Trump in November, and I will work my heart out to help her do that,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Rebecca Gill, University of Nevada Las Vegas professor of political science, said she’d be surprised if any other Democrats jumped in to challenge Harris for the nomination.

“Nobody wants to be the one who makes this process divisive,” Gill said.

Pelosi’s endorsement quelled some speculation that the Democratic Party might split over whom to nominate as Biden’s replacement. In her first statement following Biden’s announcement Sunday, Pelosi lauded the president for his decision without mentioning Harris. Former President Barack Obama did the same.

“If they came out immediately after Joe Biden and said, ‘OK, we’re going to endorse Harris,’ that could be seen as essentially pushing the others out of the way,” Gill said. “So they’re kind of allowing this to develop, and allowing each of these people the space to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to mount a challenge so this doesn’t look kind of orchestrated from above.”

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign continued its attacks on Harris, which have ramped up in recent weeks. In an email to supporters titled “Harris Dishonest Mondays: Harris is Biden 2.0,” the campaign said Harris is “just as complicit as Biden is in the destruction of our once-great Nation, and they must all be thrown out of office.” The email also emphasized one of the campaign’s main sticking points with Harris: that she conspired to hide Biden’s decline from Americans.

A recent spate of polling, pitting Harris against Trump, show the former president leading by a few percentage points.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.