It was not a smoke-filled room, but a Zoom meeting, where Pennsylvania’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted unanimously on Monday to back Vice President Kamala Harris’ quest to become the Democratic nominee for president.
The emergency vote was held 23 hours after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, a Lancaster Democrat who serves as a delegate, said the mood among delegates at the brief meeting was enthusiastic.
“I think we all support Vice President Harris,” he said. “I think when I look at it, both narratively and logistically, she’s the right fit for where we are.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman Sharif Street, a state senator from Philadelphia, told reporters Sunday that Harris would be an “excellent president of the United States.”
“I’ve talked to state chairs from across America and I’ve seen nothing but overwhelming support for the vice president,” Street said.
Pennsylvania’s delegates, previously pledged to Biden after he carried 93% of Democratic primary votes in April, now consider themselves pledged to Harris, narrowing the already small window for a would-be challenger to join the race.
