HARTFORD, Conn. — All of Connecticut's delegates for the Democratic National Convention say they’ll vote for current Vice President Kamala Harris to be their party’s presidential nominee.
Those delegates — and the party as a whole — have rallied around Harris in the last two days. So far, no other contenders have thrown their hats in the ring to challenge her for the nomination.
“Kamala Harris is the best person presented and positioned to be President of the United States and the Democratic nominee,” said state Rep. Corey Paris, (D-Stamford) and current DNC delegate in an interview Sunday night.
Forty-eight hours after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House, support is growing for his endorsed replacement, VP Harris.
“Everybody came into that meeting already supporting Harris and excited to get working,” explained state Rep. Josh Elliott, (D-Hamden), a DNC delegate and whip for the Harris campaign.
Monday night, Connecticut’s DNC delegation joined a growing list of states in overwhelmingly endorsing Harris for the top of their ticket.
“I had maybe 10 or 15 conversations throughout the course of the day, but it was clear that every single person was immediately there,” Elliot said. “There were no holdouts, and it wasn't like this was top-down organizing. Everybody was just excited and ready to go, and so it came together very quickly and very smoothly.”
Connecticut’s 74 delegates and five alternates took a non-binding vote, agreeing to pledge their support for Harris come August.
“Now that we have somebody who combats really every single problem that we had, and comes into this with a fresh slate, but also brings all the wins of the Biden presidency, it's just win-win for everybody,” added Elliot. “Right now, the feeling is just excitement.”
He says there is incredible unity in the Democratic Party right now.
According to the Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates, Harris has enough support to win the nomination next month.
She’s received pledged support from 3,095 of the more than 4,000 delegates, surpassing the 1,976 delegate threshold needed by any candidate to win on a first ballot.
This is all non-binding though, as delegates can still vote for any candidate of their choice during their virtual roll call before the convention in early August.
“We could go whichever way we wanted, and as these elected individuals going to the DNC in August, we've all independently made up our minds that it needs to be Kamala Harris,” said Elliot.
Only 60 of Connecticut's 74 delegates will likely actually vote on the nomination during next month’s virtual roll call. The other 14 are what’s known as “superdelegates” — they’re elected officials and other party leaders who only vote if Harris doesn’t receive enough votes in the first round to clinch the nomination.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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