US election: Kamala Harris campaign aims to lock in delegates by Wednesday evening
Kamala Harris's campaign aims to wrap up her presidential nomination by Wednesday night by securing a majority of the nearly 4,000 Democratic convention delegates needed to win, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
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Her campaign officials and allies have been making hundreds of phone calls to lock in delegate support ahead of the Aug. 19-22 Chicago convention while also seeking to block any would-be challengers, Reuters was first to report on Sunday.
Locking in delegate support is essential to ensuring Harris replaces Biden on the Nov. 5 ballot as the party's nominee against Republican Donald Trump.
Harris needs the support of a simple majority, or an estimated 1,969 of the 3,936 Democratic delegates, to secure her nomination at the August convention. About one-quarter have pledged to back her so far, based on public announcements.
Biden has endorsed Harris as his successor, but he cannot force delegates to follow his lead.
«Biden's endorsement of her has been very powerful in getting donors to give money and in delegates… to ultimately pledge for her,» Democratic National Committee Finance Chair Chris Korge, a Florida delegate, told Reuters.
«With him endorsing the vice president, I think by the end of business on Wednesday she'll probably have enough pledged delegates to go over 50%,» Korge said.
The southern U.S. state of Tennessee became the first to pledge its 70 delegates to the vice
