Harris wins Democratic presidential nomination

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party’s presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November’s showdown against Republican Donald Trump.

Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month.

“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States,” Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote.

In the two weeks since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Harris has gained full control of the party.

No other Democrats stepped forward to challenge her elevation to the top of the ticket, making her confirmation as the first Black and South Asian woman ever to secure a major party’s nomination a formality.

The announcement came with Harris preparing to hit the campaign trail next week for a swing across seven crucial battleground states with her newly minted running mate — who is expected to be revealed within days.

The Democratic Party decided on a virtual nomination process — mirroring the pandemic-hit 2020 vote — because of Ohio’s August 7 deadline for major parties to submit the names of their certified candidates for the November election.