Iowa’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention unanimously voted to support Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential nomination in a virtual meeting on Monday.
Harris has gained thousands of endorsements and received enough pledged delegates to secure the presumptive nomination of the party after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, and endorsed Harris, on Sunday.
Biden dropped out after facing pressure from Democratic leaders to hand over the reins following a poor debate performance against Donald Trump on June 27.
In a statement, Iowa Democrats chair Rita Hart, who also chairs the delegation, said the moment was historic and the party has already seen excitement following her announcement.
“We’ve seen a swell of support in the last 24 hours since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the White House,” Hart said in the statement Monday. “Iowans know what’s at stake this November. Our reproductive freedoms, our public schools, Social Security and Medicare, and our values are on the ballot.”
Iowa, with its 49 delegates, joins a growing list of states that have thrown their support behind Harris.
State Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, who is also a delegate, said Harris is a strong candidate with a strong contrast against former President Donald Trump.
Harris, 59, is a former prosecutor and California Attorney General while Trump, 78, has been convicted of 34 felony crimes in New York, Zabner noted.
“We felt with fewer than 110 days to go [until the general election] we need to be unified and get to work,” Zabner said.
State Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, who is also a delegate, said Harris is the one to “meet the moment.”
“We were unified in believing this is the future, and this is a historic moment, and Vice President Harris is the person to carry us forward in this historic moment,” Weiner said. “To preserve our democracy, to preserve our freedoms, including reproductive freedoms, she’s the person who can meet the moment.”
Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, recently announced her endorsement for Kamala Harris.
“I’m thrilled to support Vice President Kamala Harris as the experienced leader our party and our country needs for this time in our history,” Konfrst said in a statement Monday. “She will unite us by putting people over politics while providing an important contrast for voters.”
No major Democrats plan to challenge Harris for the nomination, and she has received wide swaths of support from congressional Democrats and most Democratic governors.
The rules for the nomination process are likely to be set in a public meeting by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws committee on Wednesday.
The party plans to formally nominate by virtual roll call before the Chicago convention, which begins Aug. 19, to negate possible ballot access issues in Ohio. However, the plan was in place before Biden stepped down.
Under the proposed nomination plan, Harris and any other challenger need to gather 300 signatures from delegates — with no more than 50 from the same state — before the virtual vote is taken.