For the first time since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris held her first public campaign rally after entering this year's presidential race.
Tuesday's rally is in Milwaukee, where former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention were just hosted last week. The state is among a handful of key battleground states that President Biden and Harris won when they ran together in 2020.
For Harris to win in November, Wisconsin is likely a state she'll need to win. In both 2016 and 2020, the state was decided by less than 1%.
"As many of you know, our state campaign headquarters are in this city, yes, and there's a reason for that," Harris told the crowd Tuesday. "The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin — yes it does. And to win in Wisconsin, we are counting on you right here in Milwaukee. And you all helped us win in 2020, and in 2024 we will win again."
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Despite only being in the presidential race for less than two days, Harris has already received a groundswell of support from both rank-and-file Democrats, as well as party leaders. Her campaign said that the vice president will be joined by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, among other state and local officials.
"She is prepared to prosecute the case against Donald Trump — and there’s no better place to drive this contrast than Milwaukee, Wisconsin," the Wisconsin Democratic Party said.
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Her campaign has also boasted about its fundraising haul. Since Sunday, the Harris campaign said it has raised over $100 million from 1.1 million donors. Harris' campaign says that 62% of those who donated to the campaign on Sunday and Monday were first-time contributors,
The campaign also said that 58,000 people signed up to volunteer for the campaign between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening.
Her path to the Democratic nomination seems to be relatively clear as by Monday evening, many state delegations offered their support for Harris. The support she has gotten so far from state delegations would be sufficient to make her the Democratic nominee.
"Wisconsin, I'm told as of this morning that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination," Harris said Tuesday to the crowd of cheering supporters. "And I am so very honored, and I pledge to you to spend the coming weeks continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November."
So far, there have not been any other prominent Democrats who have said they would challenge Harris for the nomination. It's unknown when exactly Harris would become the party's official nominee.
The Democratic Party has said they might opt to hold a virtual roll call of delegates before convening at next month's Democratic National Convention. The virtual roll call would be used to prevent ballot access issues.
