Majority of Minnesota Democratic delegates back VP Harris for president after Biden exits
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More than half of Minnesota delegates to the Democratic National Convention want Vice President Kamala Harris to be their presidential nominee after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race.
MPR News spoke to or otherwise confirmed that a majority of the 93 delegates to the convention in Chicago got behind Harris a day after Biden bowed out. That includes fresh endorsements from Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig.
“You have my full support,” Walz posted on social media early Monday in which he referred to a phone call he had received from Harris within the last day. “Let’s go win this thing.”
As of 8 p.m. Monday, 55 delegates said they would opt for Harris. Fifteen said they were either unsure, not willing to say or favored an open debate within the party as to who the nominee is. The rest were not available to offer immediate reaction.
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During the primary season, Biden had won enough pledged delegates to win the nomination for a second term. He released those delegates while saying he personally prefers Harris.
For her part, Harris issued a statement saying she will “earn and win” the nomination and work to unite the party in its effort to deny former President Donald Trump a return to the White House.
Delegate Latonya Reeves, a probation officer, said she thinks Harris could appeal to younger voters and independents who were not sold on Biden.
“She will be able to unify people because she understands what it means to be a marginalized community member who’s in this (race) right now,” Reeves said. “So I look forward to supporting her. I think she’s a great choice, and to me she was the only choice at this point.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Harris’ background as a former state attorney general and U.S. senator makes her a prime candidate to be the nominee.
“I like her a lot,” Ellison said Sunday. “I think she’s a very brilliant woman. She’s very smart. And she is great, has great compassion for people. So I’m following Joe’s lead. He’s supporting Kamala, I’m supporting her.”
Delegate John Swanson, a union electrician living in Rochester, Minn., described Harris as an inspirational choice.
“We get to lead, knowing that we are confident as a party in our candidate that we are united behind this candidate,” he said. “Because, like, that’s what we say, as Democrats, we are about equity, we are about inclusion, we’re about all of these things. And having a Vice President Harris as our nominee, really brings that into stark relief and into focus.”
Delegate Ashlie Castaldo of Duluth, a campaign operative and longtime party activist, was succinct about her preferences: Harris first, California Gov. Gavin Newsom second.
“I’m looking for someone who can be unifying is able to really temper down the division within our country, someone who’s going to put democracy first, and someone who’s going to be focused on addressing really important everyday American issues such as health care, education, and safety,” Castaldo said.
Among the delegates who didn’t gravitate toward Harris out of the gate is Asma Mohammed, one of the contingent of “uncommitted” delegates to the party convention. She and 10 other delegates oppose the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war that is taking a toll on Gaza.
“I think right now, what we’re asking for is an open convention so that people can share their ideas for what’s happening in Gaza specifically,” she said.
Most of Minnesota’s elected officials were quick to get in Harris’ corner. She picked up the backing of Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Reps. Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar, Attorney General Keith Ellison and other prominent officials.
Absent from that list is Gov. Tim Walz, a prominent Biden backer and a co-chair of the rules committee that will set the parameters for the convention. That position means he’ll face pressure from Harris supporters and those not on board to assure a fair selection process.
In an interview, Klobuchar said she grew fond of Harris as Senate colleagues and then later as rivals for the 2020 presidential nomination. She said it’s important that the party unify quickly around a new candidate against Trump, who formally gained the Republican nomination last week.
“This cannot be a protracted process,” Klobuchar said, adding of Harris. “She's someone that I deeply respect. I think she brings to this job, not just the leadership skills, she actually brings receipts. She has traveled the world over. She is known to world leaders, as she has been at President Biden’s side and making some of the major decisions.”
Another lawmaker with a delegate spot, state Rep. Mike Freiberg of Golden Valley, said he learned of Biden’s decision as he was running weekend errands. He was initially unsure about who he would support but said Monday that he would vote for Harris.
“My August got a lot more interesting. That’s for certain,” he said. “I’m excited to go to Chicago. And I’m confident we’ll pick a really strong candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November. And it’s just, I’m just kind of gobsmacked to think that I’ll have a part in that.”
MPR News reporters Anika Besst, Cari Spencer, Catharine Richert, Chandra Colvin, Clay Masters, Dana Ferguson, Dan Gunderson, Dan Kraker, Emily Bright, Kyra Miles and Peter Cox, MPR News editors Euan Kerr and Max Sparber, and APM Research Lab staff Craig Helmstetter and Elisabeth Gawthrop contributed to this story.