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Connecticut’s Democratic delegates are meeting Monday night and are expected to pledge their votes for Kamala Harris. Just one day after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, his vice president is rapidly consolidating support among delegates originally pledged to Biden. But Harris still faces an uphill battle in November, with consistently low poll numbers and a Republican Party unified around former President Donald Trump.
“HUGE KAMALA FAN” Tina Duryea, of Norwalk, loves Harris so much that she even wore her “Kamala 2020” dress on Monday. “I am a huge Kamala fan,” she said. Duryea worked on Harris’ brief 2019 run for the White House. Now, as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, she plans to cast her vote to nominate Harris for president. “Everybody I have spoken to has expressed that they are supporting the vice president,” she said. “Now, I have not spoken to all of them. But everyone I’ve spoken to is really excited about Kamala Harris.” State Rep. Corey Paris (D-Stamford) is also a delegate. He said it’s time for Democrats to stop fighting amongst themselves and focus on defeating Trump. “If they don't fall in line behind the vice president, I imagine I’ll be getting rid of a lot of people on my Christmas card list. Simply because there's no one else who can mount a serious campaign against the vice president for the nomination.” Paris said. “She’s got the wisdom, she’s got the experience – not only the resources, but also the name recognition and the character to lead this nation forward.” Bridgeport’s Gemeem Davis is a delegate too. “I think it would be egregious for the party to try to put someone else up,” Davis said. “Kamala Harris is on the ticket now; she's our vice president.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? With Biden out of the race, it’s now up to DNC delegates to pick a replacement. The vice president needs 1,986 delegates to clinch the nomination. As of Monday afternoon, the Associated Press reported that 700 had already committed to her. Connecticut has 74 delegates – 60 regular (or “pledged”) ones and 14 superdelegates (or “automatic”) - who can only vote if Harris doesn’t get enough support in the first round of voting. Gov. Ned Lamont is a superdelegate. On Monday, he told reporters that he would accept an invitation as Harris’ running mate, if asked. “Look, you do anything you can to support our nominee for the office,” Lamont said. “I think there are a lot of good folks she’s got under consideration.”
LOW POLL NUMBERS Harris faces an uphill climb. Her poll numbers are almost as low as President Biden’s. "Donald Trump is going to continue to talk about the border, continue to talk about the economy, inflation, continue to talk about crime. Those issues don’t go away because Biden is not the candidate,” said Connecticut Republican Party chair Ben Proto. “In fact, if Kamala Harris is the candidate, they probably grow exponentially because she’s failed particularly at the southern border, which is the only job Joe Biden gave her.” But Duryea believes the tide will turn as Harris sells herself to voters. “They don't really know her yet. She has three months to make the case,” she said. “She quickly came to the top when I started to really look at what she has done as an attorney general, as a district attorney, as a senator.” Democrats think the momentum is already shifting. Duryea said she raised $20,000 for Harris in the 24 hours after Biden stepped aside. Other prominent delegates are lining up behind Harris too, including former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.
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