AP News Self-Count Results
Secured 2,668 Delegates, Surpassing Magic Number (Majority)
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has ignited her presidential bid by securing enough delegates needed to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
According to AP News and others on the 22nd (local time), Vice President Harris celebrated in a statement that night, saying, "I am proud to have secured broad support needed to become our party's (Democratic Party) nominee," and "I look forward to officially accepting the (presidential) nomination soon."
Earlier, AP News announced based on its own survey that Vice President Harris had gained the support of 2,668 Democratic delegates. This far exceeds the magic number (simple majority) of 1,976 delegates required for the presidential nomination. Although this is an unofficial survey result compiled by AP through individual contacts with Democratic delegates via phone, email, and social networking services (SNS), experts evaluate this figure as enough to say she has effectively reserved the Democratic presidential nomination.
Vice President Harris also declared her presidential bid earlier that day during a speech at the Wilmington, Delaware campaign headquarters. She emphasized, "In the coming days and weeks, I will unite the Democratic Party and this country with you to win the election," adding, "I know the type like Trump well. I will highlight my proud career against his record." This was a direct critique of former President Donald Trump, who is currently undergoing a criminal trial as a defendant.
Just one day after U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race, Democratic supporters are rapidly rallying around Vice President Harris. The Harris campaign announced that within 24 hours of announcing her presidential bid, they raised $81 million from 888,000 donors. Although the detailed breakdown of large and small donors was not disclosed, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Wall Street billionaire George Soros expressed their support.
As the momentum of the 'Harris frontrunner theory' gains weight, attention is also focused on the reshaping of the presidential race, which seemed set to be a rematch between former and current presidents. The matchup between former President Trump and Vice President Harris starkly contrasts in terms of gender (male vs. female), race (white vs. Black), and generation (Trump 78 years old, Harris 59 years old), highlighting their fundamentally different backgrounds.
Meanwhile, according to the U.S. polling firm Morning Consult on the same day, a survey of 4,001 voters conducted after President Biden’s withdrawal announcement showed Vice President Harris trailing former President Trump by just 2 percentage points with 45% support compared to Trump's 47%. Before Biden’s withdrawal announcement, the gap in support between Trump and Harris in a head-to-head poll was 6 percentage points.
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