After quickly securing the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party's nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin for a rally, her first stop in a swing state since becoming a presidential candidate.

Harris will head to the Badger State backed by a slew of Democrats -- including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, most recently -- and her coffers full of donations. The newly minted presidential candidate has raised more than $100 million since announcing her campaign, including topping $81 million in 24 hours, a presidential fundraising record.


What You Need To Know

  • After quickly securing the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party's nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin for a rally, her first stop in a swing state since becoming a presidential candidate

  • Harris' campaign said it raised more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening

  • Harris on Monday night secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination, according to a survey from The Associated Press of state parties

  • The quick coalescing behind Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden’s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day

Harris will be joined in Milwaukee by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat who won reelection in the 2022 midterms, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is running for reelection in November against Republican Eric Hovde, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and several other current and former state Democratic officials, including former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who tried to unseat GOP Sen. Ron Johnson two years ago.

It will be her fifth visit to Wisconsin this year and ninth since taking office

Harris on Monday night secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination, according to a survey from The Associated Press of state parties.

The quick coalescing behind Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden’s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day. Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris in the day after Biden's exit from the race and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.

Several state delegations met late Monday to confirm their support for Harris, including Texas and her home state of California. By Monday night, Harris had the support of at least 2,471 delegates, according to the AP tally of delegates, more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.

In a statement after she clinched the nomination, Harris said she's "grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people."

"This election will present a clear choice between two different visions," she said. "Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights. I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead." 

Worries over Biden’s fitness for office were replaced by fresh signs of unity after a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties’ carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.

Harris traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to rally with campaign staff rocked by Biden's exit from the race.

“It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” she said to cheers. “Though in the days and weeks ahead, I together with you, will do everything in my power to unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation and to win this election.”

Harris on Monday also leaned into a storyline Democrats have sought to emphasize since Biden’s announcement on Sunday – contrasting her background as an attorney general and courtroom prosecutor with former President Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money trial in New York in May. 

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” she said. “Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain – so hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type.”

The vice president went on to make clear she didn’t want the campaign to just be about her against Trump, but a choice between two contrasing visions of America's future.

“Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country – two different visions for the future of our country,: Harris said. “One focused on the future, the other focused on the past.” 

She attacked the Project 2025 agenda, a far-right policy platform assembled by the right-wing Heritage Foundation that Trump has desperately tried to distance himself from, as something that "will weaken the middle class and bring us backward."

"We're not going back," she vowed.

Biden – still at home in Delaware recovering from COVID-19 – called into Monday’s gathering to tell the team that his decision was the “right thing to do” and vow to stay “fully engaged” as Harris seeks the White House. 

“The name has changed on the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn't changed at all," Biden said. "And by the way, I'm not going anywhere, I'm gonna be out there in the campaign with her, with Kamala, I'm going to be working like hell, both as a sitting president getting legislation passed as well as in the campaign."

Harris also used her remarks to once again praise the accomplishments and legacy of her boss, noting multiple times how much she loved the commander in chief.   

“I’m watching you, kid, I love ya,” Biden replied during one exchange between the pair. 

Locking up the nomination was only the first item on the staggering political to-do list for Harris after learning of Biden’s plans to leave the race Sunday morning on a call with the president. She must also pick a running mate and pivot a massive political operation that had been built to reelect Biden to boost her candidacy instead.

On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President, reflecting that she is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. She added $81 million to that total in the first 24 hours after Biden’s endorsement, her campaign said — a presidential fundraising record — a sum that rose to $100 million by Monday afternoon.

Per Harris' campaign, she has seen 1.1 million unique donors since Sunday, with 62% being first-time donors. The campaign also saw a surge in organizing, with 58,000 signing up to volunteer, more than 100 times the daily average.

Big-name Harris endorsements Monday, including from Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, left a vanishing list of potential rivals. 

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who had been one of the notable holdouts, initially encouraging a primary to strengthen the eventual nominee, said she was lending her “enthusiastic support” to Harris’ effort to lead the party.

She also received a slew of support from unions, a key part of any Democratic coalition, including the 12 million strong AFL-CIO.

Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to be president.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The convention’s rules committee is scheduled to meet this week to finalize its nomination process with a virtual vote as soon as Aug. 1, the party announced on Monday, with the process completed by Aug. 7.

“We can and will be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination,” Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee’s chair, said on a conference call with reporters.

The party said the virtual roll call would feature multiple rounds of voting on nominees if multiple candidates meet the qualification threshold. To qualify, candidates must have the electronic signatures of 300 convention delegates.