After weeks of intraparty division over President Joe Biden's candidacy, delegates to the upcoming Democratic National Convention on Tuesday rallied rapidly and enthusiastically behind as their party's new presidential candidate.
Suddenly, some delegates said, they have a lot more to look forward to at their national meeting in Chicago.
鈥淏efore it felt like a convention, but now it feels like a party,鈥� said Gabriella C谩zares-Kelly, a Democratic delegate from Arizona.
Since Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping his reelection bid and endorsing Harris, the vice president already has secured the support of enough delegates to become her party鈥檚 nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an . In most states, Democratic officials said their entire convention delegation is behind Harris.
C谩zares-Kelly, a member of the Tohono O鈥檕dham Nation and the Pima County recorder in charge of overseeing voter registration, said her enthusiasm for Harris is both personal and practical. With just two months left before ballots must be mailed to overseas voters, she said Democrats needed to unify behind a candidate as soon as possible.
And "as an Indigenous woman, watching a Black woman 鈥� woman of color 鈥� advance to the highest office in the country, it is very exciting,鈥� she said.
Michigan delegate David Coulter, the Oakland County executive, said he is fully behind Harris but still was 鈥渟tunned by how quickly the party has circled around to support her."
鈥淲e鈥檙e the Democratic Party. There鈥檚 a lot of opinions and a lot of viewpoints, and so I thought maybe it would take a little while for people to galvanize, maybe even all the way to the convention鈥� scheduled to begin Aug. 19, Coulter said. 鈥淏ut she has very masterfully secured support.鈥�
Harris also has brought in fresh dollars for Democrats. The Harris campaign and national Democratic committees combined to raise more than $100 million 鈥� from 1.1 million donors 鈥� between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, the campaign said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Harris was campaigning in the . A day earlier, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said the state party had raised $300,000 in the past week, including $140,000 since Biden dropped out of the race.
鈥淭he level of unity and energy is through the roof,鈥� Wikler said. 鈥淭here is a surge of focus, of enthusiasm, a flowering of the kind of unity we鈥檙e going to need to beat Donald Trump."
Harris still faces some headwinds in a campaign against Trump.
Shortly before Biden dropped out, found that while about 6 in 10 Democrats believed Harris would do a good job as a president only about 3 in 10 adults overall said she would do well. The poll showed that about half of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Harris, which was a little better than for Biden and Trump.
Trump鈥檚 campaign already has linked Harris to many of Biden's policies, mostly notably immigration at the U.S. southern border. in 2021.
Democratic delegates expressed hope that Harris' candidacy will energize younger voters. Harris, who is 59, is 22 years younger than Biden. That would make the 78-year-old Trump the oldest candidate in the race.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to draw younger folks in who were going to be disappointed, and now I think they鈥檙e really going to be excited and engaged,鈥� said Toni Easter, 57, of suburban St. Louis.
Jennifer Parrish Taylor, a first-time delegate from Oregon, said she was grateful Biden threw his support to Harris.
鈥淎s a Black woman, it鈥檚 not often you see white men give up power,鈥� Parrish Taylor said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really emotional, because I never thought I would see a black woman president candidate be at the top of the ticket, and I鈥檓 just blown away.鈥�
鈥淚 think it has energized the base in a different way, that we haven鈥檛 seen in quite a long time,鈥� Parrish Taylor said.
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Sally Ho in Seattle; Sharon Lurye in New Orleans; Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri; and Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, contributed to this report.
David A. Lieb, The Associated Press
