Excitement grows for Harris’ presidential campaign in Charlotte

Kamala Harris is still working to earn the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential race, but the excitement is growing among some voters in Mecklenburg County.

“I am jubilant, I’m excited, I am just fired up,” said Connie Green-Johnson.

Green-Johnson grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and knows Joe Biden personally. On Monday, she spoke with Channel 9′s Ken Lemon in north Charlotte and recalled her thoughts when she heard the news Sunday that Biden would be dropping out of the 2024 race.

“I know this must have been the hardest decision,” she said.

Moments later, she learned he was supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, a Black and Asian woman, for president.

“I saw an opportunity, hope that America can be what it says it’s going to be,” Green-Johnson told Lemon.

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Sunday night, she and Black women across the country were invited to a private Zoom meeting to support Harris.

“There were 47,000 women,” Green-Johnson said.

Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. Her Asian roots touched Charlotte City Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera.

“It is an inspiring moment, in fact I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it,” Ajmera said.

She believes a Harris nomination will open the doors for many women like her.

“Twenty to thirty years from now, I’m going to tell my daughters about this historic moment,” Ajmera said.

Roy in the running?

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is on the short list to be Harris’ vice president if she gets the nomination. Green-Johnson said that would be a smart move, and that Harris needs a Democrat from a southern state to win.

“Roy Cooper is loved by a lot of folks, Democratic and unaffiliates; we got to pull them in,” she said.

Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to run for president 50 years ago, and Donna Lent was part of the group that support her run in 1974.

Lent, the past president of the National Women’s Political Caucus, said Cooper supports a woman’s right to make a decision about abortion, and that’s the biggest test for any of Harris’ VP picks.

“The candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris is going to galvanize women, women who view reproductive freedom and equal rights as essential,” Lent told Lemon on Monday.

The LGTBQ+ Mecklenburg Democrats say protecting LGBTQ+ people and women’s health are the biggest issues for them.

“Right now, women are concerned for the lives of theirselves, their daughters, and the ones who come after,” said Laurel Grauer.

All of them told Lemon that this means they’ll support whoever the Democratic Party selects to head the ticket.

(VIDEO: VP Kamala Harris comes to Charlotte to announce climate investments)