HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — When the head of Pennsylvania’s GOP delegation rose last week in Milwaukee to declare the delegation would “proudly cast all of its 67 votes for the bravest man in America, Donald J. Trump,” no one questioned whether they were happy to do that.

Convention delegates, after all, tend to be loyal. But there’s another reason why they voted for Trump. They — like all delegates from both parties who voted for nominees since 1972 — had no choice.

“We officially nominate the presidential nominee and vice president nominee for the Democrat party,” said the party’s Dauphin County chair, Rogette Harris, describing what delegates usually do — with “officially” being a key word.

“Usually we’re pledged during the primary election,” Harris said. “So I had to run, get on the ballot as a pledged Biden delegate, and I got elected. So I would have gone to vote for Biden. But now that the president has stepped down, technically we’re not pledged anymore.”

“Technically” is the operative word in that sentence. President Biden urged Democratic delegates Sunday to support Vice President Kamala Harris, and state by state, delegates — including 185 delegates in Pennsylvania Monday, urged by the state party chair, Sharif Street — voted to endorse Harris.

Those votes aren’t binding. But Rogette Harris, like all Pennsylvania delegates who spoke, said she had every intention to vote for Kamala Harris — because of the urging by Biden and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, because she thinks Harris is highly qualified and because of something else.

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“It’s also personal for me as a Black woman,” Rogette Harris said. “I can’t wait to be able to cast a vote for another Black woman to lead this country.”

Support to rally quickly around Kamala Harris by key Democrats was widespread — with many saying the downside of a contentious and potentially divisive competition for the nomination would outweigh any benefit, just three months before the November election — but not universal.

“I don’t quite understand the rush to decide that immediately,” T.J. Rooney, a former Democratic state party chair. Rooney said maybe Harris is the right pick, but the party should take its time coming to that conclusion.

“I understand that there’s a desire to get all our ducks in a row and point them in one direction,” Rooney said. “Just make sure our lead duck is the duck that has the best chance to defeat Donald Trump.”

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