With Biden’s endorsement, Kamala Harris is the frontrunner to replace Biden.

Vice President Kamala Harris received President Joe Biden endorsed Biden for the Democratic nomination for president on Sunday, a move that came after he announced he was dropping out of his re-election bid.

Biden’s decision to withdraw broke the nomination process, meaning Harris or another Democrat could seek the party’s nomination. The delegates who were elected to support Biden in the primaries must now vote on the party’s nominee. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin in Chicago on August 19, and Biden’s endorsement immediately makes Harris the frontrunner.

Harris, first female vice presidentShe became the first black woman and South Asian person to win the nomination of a major party.

Biden’s historic and unprecedented decision to withdraw comes amid concerns about his age and the mental acuity wrought by his catastrophic events. Discussion Results About the former president in June donald trump.

Harris, at 59, is 22 years younger than Biden, who is 81.

The daughter of immigrant parents, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, the Oakland, California native first became known by her first name, test She served in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and was elected DA in 2003. She first gained national recognition after becoming California’s Attorney General in 2010. She was elected to the California State Senate in 2016, becoming the second Black woman and the first South Asian woman to serve in the Senate.

Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, a national strategy hub for donors aligned with Democratic interests who have spent the past few weeks researching how to support Harris, said he believes she is the right person to lead the race now that Biden has stepped aside.

“We are ready to secure and support Vice President Harris in her new role,” Gavito said. “She has a strong track record in every political position. She has honed her voice on voting rights, her voice on reproductive freedom, and her ability to govern the economy, and she is ready.”

Harris jumped in 2020 Presidential Primary Election Her rally in Oakland in January 2019 drew about 20,000 people, but her fundraising and poll numbers began to decline that summer after the Democratic debate. Withdrew from the race It was December, before the primaries began.

Harris, who had pointed out her interactions with Biden during the debate, was nominated. his running mate August 2020. She struggled to gain traction early in her term as vice president, but has gained prominence as the 2024 campaign has begun in earnest. In particular, she Support activities to Black color and Asian American Voters are a key demographic for Biden.

As some Democrats began to lose confidence in the president’s ability to continue to run for office, many Started to express support For her Take his place. Trump also starts attacking Harris More powerfully In his election speech.

Some Democrats have questioned publicly and privately whether Harris is the best person to be the party’s nominee. But those doubts have largely subsided after several Black lawmakers and Democratic strategists said ignoring Harris was a nonstarter. They argued that she was the best person for the job because she worked with Biden, and that the Democratic Party, whose most loyal constituency is Black women, cannot afford to ignore her and upset its base.

Biden, who at the time insisted he would remain in the race, made it clear at a July 11 news conference that he believed Harris was qualified to be president. “I’ve been upfront about that from the beginning,” Biden said. “She’s qualified to be president. That’s why I chose her.”

Trump has also recently begun attacking Harris. More powerfully In his campaign speeches, and Trump’s campaign, along with his running mate J.D. Vance, sought to portray Harris as an extremist.

Still, Gavito said Way to Win’s surveys and polls in key battleground states over the past few weeks have shown Harris has seen “significant gains” among “young voters where Biden has struggled” and has done well among voters of color and women.

“Harris has done a lot to engage a really fundamental part of our base, and it’s great to see voters who weren’t aligned with either party get excited,” Gavito said.

Picking Harris would eliminate the possibility of an ugly convention brawl and provide a big financial boost to the vice president and the party, campaign finance experts said. NBC News Biden’s campaign funds are likely to go to Harris, since she was his running mate. Other candidates will likely have to raise fresh campaign funds.