The Latest: Harris, facing a crucial week, closes in on running mate pick

Aug 5, 2024 2:02 PM - 1361 words

By The Associated Press

Vice President Kamala Harris, grappling with how to keep early 2024 Presidential election momentum alive, is also preparing for a crucial week that includes her most critical decision yet: choosing a running mate.

While Harris has secured enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee, delegates still have to participate in a “virtual roll call” to solidify her nomination.

Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a Tuesday night deadline. She’s looking to officially claim the nomination on Monday evening when the DNC is expected to release final results.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the Latest:

Former Republican governor of New Jersey endorses Harris

Former Republican governor of New Jersey and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman was among a handful of Republicans who backed Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House.

Whitman, who was the first woman elected governor of New Jersey, has been a prominent critic of Donald Trump.

“I was a proud Republican, but Donald Trump is unfit to lead our nation,” she said in a statement. “It’s time to move forward by electing Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Whitman has roots in the same county in New Jersey where Trump’s Bedminster golf club is located. Whitman endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 over Trump as well.

Harris postponing Georgia trip as Tropical Storm Debby moves across the region

Vice President Kamala Harris is postponing a scheduled trip to Georgia amid the ongoing effects of Tropical Storm Debby.

Harris’ campaign said her stop planned in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, was being put off due to the storm.

Harris is choosing her running mate and will introduce the choice during a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The pair will then travel together starting Wednesday to a series of key battleground states: Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. But the Georgia leg of the original journey has been pulled down, for now.

Debby made landfall in Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and was expected to bring potentially record-setting rainfall to South Carolina and Georgia as it heads east.

Harris’ nomination to become official after online balloting ends Monday night

Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination will become official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic National Convention delegates ends Monday night and the party announces the results. The party had long contemplated the early virtual roll call to ensure President Joe Biden would appear on the ballot in every state.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted after Biden withdrew found 46% of Americans have a favorable view of Harris, while a nearly identical share has an unfavorable view of her.

But more Democrats say they’re satisfied with her candidacy compared with that of Biden, energizing a party that had long been resigned to the 81-year-old Biden being its nominee against former President Donald Trump, a Republican they view as an existential threat.

Usha Vance defense husbands ‘childless cat ladies’ comment

Usha Vance says her husband’s “childless cat ladies comment” was “a quip made in service” of a bigger point the GOP vice presidential contender was trying to make about American political society, not a slight intended at U.S. citizens without children.

Sen. JD Vance’s wife made the comment Monday during an interview that aired on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

Usha Vance also noted that she helped her husband with his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, while she wrote hers without his assistance.

Asked about her husband on a personal level, Usha Vance also noted that he “has a lot of really dorky interests” without going into specifics.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in court to fight lawsuit saying he falsely claimed to live in NY

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived at a New York court Monday to fight a lawsuit alleging he falsely claimed to live in New York as he sought to get on the ballot in the state.

Kennedy appeared and sat at his attorneys’ table during legal arguments Monday morning, ahead of a civil trial expected to start later in the day in the state capital of Albany. Under state election law, a judge is set to decide the case without a jury.

The lawsuit alleges Kennedy’s nominating petition falsely said his residence was in New York’s northern suburbs while he actually has lived in Los Angeles since 2014, when he married “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines.

The suit seeks to invalidate his petition. The case was brought by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Gov. Josh Shapiro on status of Harris running mate selection: ‘I got nothing for you, man’

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro didn’t say anything about the status of the vice presidential candidate selection Monday morning as he arrived at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

“I got nothing for you, man,” the first-term Democrat said and told an Associated Press reporter “have a great day” as he headed into the governor’s offices, flanked by an aide and several state troopers.

The officers and press secretary Manuel Bonder were waiting for Shapiro when he arrived just after 11 a.m. in a black SUV.

Trump blames Harris and Biden for drop in markets

Former President Donald Trump is blaming Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for the tumbling of markets in Wall Street and around the world.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, made a series of posts on his network Truth Social, attacking his opponent Harris.

“Kamala is even worse than Crooked Joe. Markets will NEVER accept the Radical Left Lunatic that DESTROYED San Francisco and California, as a whole,” he wrote, and is labeling the plunging market the “Kamala Crash.”

In another post, Trump called it a “preview of the world markets without Donald J. Trump in the White House.”

The S&P 500 was down 3.1% in early trading with rising fears about a slowing U.S. economy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 helped start Monday by plunging 12.4% for its worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987.

JD Vance: Harris’ running mate pick doesn’t matter to him

Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, told Fox News on Sunday that Harris’ pick doesn’t matter to him.

“Whoever she chooses, the problem is going to be Kamala Harris’ record and Kamala Harris’ policies,” he said, adding “it’s not going to be good for the country.”

Harris will begin a tour of 7 battleground states

Harris and her running mate — whoever that is — will launch into an aggressive, seven-state battleground tour that begins in Philadelphia on Tuesday and winds through Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

Her early rallies have attracted enthusiastic thousands. Campaign officials say each stop will be loaded with local election officials, religious leaders, union members and more in an effort to show the diversity of her coalition.

Campaign officials are aware that momentum can be fleeting and are working to capitalize on the energy now, while managing expectations by continuing to emphasize that the race with Republican nominee Donald Trump is tight.

VP’s campaign launches ‘Republicans for Harris’

Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launched “Republicans for Harris” as she looks to win over Republican voters put off by Donald Trump’s candidacy.

The program will be a “campaign within a campaign,” according to Harris’ team, using well-known Republicans to activate their networks, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Hospitality workers’ union endorses Harris

The hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a rejoinder to Republican Donald Trump’s effort to woo restaurant and hotel workers by promising to make their tips tax-free.

The endorsement includes a commitment by the union to have its members knock on more than 3.3 million doors for Harris in swing states.