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Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party\u2019s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an\u00a0Associated Press survey<\/a>, as top Democrats rallied to her in the aftermath of President Joe Biden\u2019s decision to drop his bid for reelection.<\/p>\n The quick coalescing behind Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden\u2019s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day. Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly\u00a0lined up behind Harris<\/a>\u00a0in the day after Biden\u2019s exit from the race and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.<\/p>\n Several state delegations met late Monday to confirm their support for Harris, including Texas and her home state of California. By Monday night, Harris had the support of well more than the 1,976 delegates she\u2019ll need to win on a first ballot, according to the AP tally. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.<\/p>\n California state Democratic Chairman Rusty Hicks said 75% to 80% of the state\u2019s delegation were on a call Tuesday and they unanimously supported Harris.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve not heard anyone mentioning or calling for any other candidate,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cTonight\u2019s vote was a momentous one.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That\u2019s because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go through with a\u00a0virtual roll call<\/a>\u00a0ahead of that gathering in Chicago.<\/p>\n Harris, in a statement, responded to the AP tally, saying she is \u201cgrateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Worries over Biden\u2019s fitness for office were replaced by fresh signs of unity after a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties\u2019 carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.<\/p>\n Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris acknowledged the \u201crollercoaster\u201d of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,\u201d she said. She promised to \u201cunite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation, and to win this election.\u201d<\/p>\n She quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump\u2019s felony convictions\u2014\u201cI know Donald Trump\u2019s type,\u201d she said\u2014and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.<\/p>\n \u201cOur fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms,\u201d she said. \u201cThe baton is in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n The president called into the meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from COVID-19, to lend his support to Harris. He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn\u2019t changed at all,\u201d Biden said in his first public remarks since announcing his decision to step aside, promising he was \u201cnot going anywhere\u201d and plans to campaign on Harris\u2019 behalf.<\/p>\n Biden said of his decision, \u201cIt was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n As he handed off the mantle of leadership to Harris, Biden added: \u201cI\u2019m watching you kid. I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris was headed to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday as her campaign for the White House kicks into high gear. The event in Milwaukee will be her first full-fledged campaign event since announcing her candidacy.<\/p>\n The AP tally is based on<\/a>\u00a0interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties, many of which have announced that their delegations are supporting Harris en masse, and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.<\/p>\n Locking up the nomination was only the first item on the staggering political to-do list for Harris after learning of Biden\u2019s plans to leave the race Sunday morning on a call with the president. She must also pick a running mate and pivot a massive political operation that had been built to reelect Biden to boost her candidacy instead.<\/p>\n On Sunday afternoon, Biden\u2019s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President, reflecting that she is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. She added $81 million to that total in the first 24 hours after Biden\u2019s endorsement, her campaign said\u2014a presidential fundraising record\u2014with contributions from more than 888,000 donors.<\/p>\n The campaign also saw a surge of interest after Harris took over, with more than 28,000 new volunteers registered since the announcement\u2014a rate more than 100 times an average day from the previous Biden reelection campaign, underscoring the enthusiasm behind Harris.<\/p>\n Big-name Harris endorsements Monday, including from Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, left a vanishing list of potential rivals.<\/p>\n House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who had been one of the notable holdouts, initially encouraging a primary to strengthen the eventual nominee, said she was lending her \u201centhusiastic support\u201d to Harris\u2019 effort to lead the party.<\/p>\n Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to be president.<\/p>\n\n