Tennessee delegates to the Democratic National Convention pledged to back Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race Sunday.
Chip Forrester, an at-large delegate to the convention and co-chair of the Biden-Harris Southern Finance Committee, said after Biden endorsed Harris that it would make sense for all the party’s delegates to unite behind the vice president.
“(President Biden) clearly has been struggling and thinking about this in great detail over the last few weeks, but I’m extremely pleased he has endorsed Kamala Harris, and it would be awfully difficult to not strongly support her,” Forrester said. “The campaign can transfer the $250 million (in campaign funds) to her, which would give her a strong advantage.”
Biden announced Sunday he would not seek reelection and endorsed Harris.
Harris is considered the front-runner to win the open convention because of the advantage she would have over access to Biden’s current campaign war chest. But she is not guaranteed to be the nominee come the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention.
By not accepting the nomination, Biden’s delegates are released and allowed to vote for whomever they want. Shortly after Biden’s announcement, the Tennessee Democratic Party held a conference call with its delegation, which voted unanimously to support Harris.
There are 4,672 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and Tennessee has 70 of them. It will take 1,968 pledged delegates to win any nomination process.
Some of the prominent delegates to the convention from Tennessee are former Vice President Al Gore, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, state House Minority Leader Rep. Karen Camper and state Minority Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari.
Other state representatives serving as delegates to the convention include Vincent Dixie of Nashville and Memphis Democrats Harold Love and Justin Pearson.
So far, Tennessee’s delegates said they plan to back Harris.
“I whole-heartedly support Vice President Harris,” said Metro Nashville School Board Member Freda Player, a convention delegate. “A woman of color is on the ballot to be president of the United States. She has local, state and federal governing experience. She is uniquely qualified to be president of the United States of America for all people. She is the future of our party. I cannot wait to vote for her nomination at the Democratic Convention. “
Chattanooga delegate Chris Anderson also weighed in for Harris.
“For over 50 years Joe Biden has done what he thought is best for Americans and today is no different and he wants to protect us from Donald Trump and Project 2025, said Anderson. “While it’s fun to talk about the great governors, mayors and senators in the Democratic Party, it’s clear that one choice rises above the rest and I’ll be proudly casting my vote for Kamala Harris.”
Read more at TennesseeLookout.com.
Vice President Kamala Harris presents a diploma to a graduate of Tennessee State University in Nashville on May 7, 2022. Tennessee’s 70 Democratic delegates have pledged to support Harris at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. / Tennessee Lookout Photo by John Partipilo