Survey: RI delegates lining up support behind Kamala Harris for president

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island’s Democratic delegates are lining up to support Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee, a Target 12 survey of members showed.

At least 19 of the 26 Rhode Island delegates who vote in a first round nationally told Target 12 they plan to choose Harris. The support is falling in place after President Joe Biden endorsed his vice president to replace him as the party’s nominee on Sunday.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS BELOW

The president’s endorsement came quickly after his announcement that he will no longer seek reelection amid scrutiny over his age, health and ability to beat former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“I’m excited,” said Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, who’s one of the party’s delegates. “I hope that the party coalesces around her in the days to come and that we put a united front forward to face off against Donald Trump in November.”

Of the 26 Rhode Island voting delegates, five did not immediately respond to the survey.

Two said they hadn’t decided yet how they’d vote, including state Sen. Mark McKenney, D-Warwick, and Providence City Council chief of staff June Rose. Rose was the only voting delegate who hadn’t committed to Biden previously.

“In my view, today, it’s a little premature,” McKenney told Target 12 on Monday. “We’ve only just learned of the president bowing out himself. I may well get to the point I think that the vice president is the best candidate, without doubt, but I just want to make sure I’m holding off. It may only be for a matter of days.”

Separate from the delegate votes expected to be cast at the national level, Rhode Island Democratic delegates are scheduled to meet remotely Wednesday night and vote to formally endorse Harris as the party’s presidential candidate.

In the event one of the Rhode Island delegates can’t cast a vote at the convention next month, the party has three alternates who would get an opportunity to step in. Two of the three said they planned to support Harris, according to Target 12 survey.

In the event no Democratic candidate wins the majority of the roughly 4,000 Democratic delegates nationwide, Rhode Island’s nine superdelegates would then get an opportunity to cast their votes.

Target 12’s survey found eight of the nine superdelegates plan to vote for Harris, with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed being the only one who hasn’t yet said who he’d support publicly.

Democratic national committeeman Joe Paolino Jr., who’s also a superdelegate, called the party’s growing support for Harris “a train that can’t be stopped.”

“She’s been vetted,” Paolino told Target 12. “Hopefully she’ll move to the center a little bit to make guys like me happier.”

The former Providence mayor also said Biden’s highly criticized performance at the June 27 presidential debate against Trump ended up being a “silver lining in disguise” because it allowed the party enough time to make adjustments ahead of the November election.

“Trump won the debate, but he didn’t really win,” Paolino said. “Now, there’s enough time to make some changes and changes have been made. We wouldn’t have been able to do that in October.”

According to party officials, the Democratic Party could aim to hold a virtual roll call vote in early August to make sure it could get the new nominee’s name on the ballot in Ohio.

Otherwise, delegate would cast in-person votes at the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.

Eli Sherman ( esherman@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook .

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook .

Alexandra Leslie contributed to this report.

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