Kamala Harris Officially Nominated as Democratic Presidential Nominee

Making History as the First Black and South Asian Woman to Lead a Major Party Ticket

Vice President Kamala Harris has officially earned the vast majority of delegate votes in the virtual roll call that nominates her as the Democratic presidential nominee. The announcement was made by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in a statement released late Monday.

“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,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and Democratic National Convention Committee Chair Minyon Moore said in a statement. The roll call, which concluded on Monday evening, still needs to be certified by Convention Secretary Jason Rae.

Harris received 4,567 votes from delegates, according to the DNC. She had effectively been the party’s nominee since Friday when Harrison announced that she had earned enough Democratic Party delegate votes to secure the party’s nomination.

Harris is the first Black and South Asian woman to lead a major party ticket. She was the only competitive candidate to launch a campaign to succeed President Joe Biden after his withdrawal from the race and the only candidate to receive enough delegate signatures to progress to the virtual roll call.

Convention delegates voted virtually by email or phone since Thursday morning in a virtual roll call set up by the DNC. Delegates had until Monday at 6 p.m. ET to vote in the nomination process.

The DNC initially decided in May to hold a virtual roll call because of uncertainty over deadlines to get on the ballot in Ohio. The state legislature eventually rectified the issue, but the DNC argued that Republican lawmakers in Ohio were acting in bad faith and that the Democratic candidate needed to be nominated earlier than the convention to avoid legal issues.